diff --git a/src/BiblioInfo.cpp b/src/BiblioInfo.cpp
index bc30499b35..f162b36e82 100644
--- a/src/BiblioInfo.cpp
+++ b/src/BiblioInfo.cpp
@@ -482,6 +482,16 @@ docstring const BiblioInfo::getInfo(docstring const & key) const
 }
 
 
+bool const BiblioInfo::isBibtex(docstring const & key) const
+{
+	BiblioInfo::const_iterator it = find(key);
+	if (it == end())
+		return false;
+	return it->second.isBibTeX();
+}
+
+
+
 vector<docstring> const BiblioInfo::getCiteStrings(
 	docstring const & key, Buffer const & buf) const
 {
diff --git a/src/BiblioInfo.h b/src/BiblioInfo.h
index 77c3dab729..394d9c416b 100644
--- a/src/BiblioInfo.h
+++ b/src/BiblioInfo.h
@@ -156,6 +156,9 @@ public:
 	/// Empty if no info exists. 
 	/// Note that this will retrieve data from the crossref as needed.
 	docstring const getInfo(docstring const & key) const;
+	/// Is this a reference from a bibtex database
+	/// or from a bibliography environment?
+	bool const isBibtex(docstring const & key) const;
 	/**
 	  * "Translates" the available Citation Styles into strings for a given key,
 	  * either numerical or author-year depending upon the active engine. (See
diff --git a/src/insets/InsetBibitem.cpp b/src/insets/InsetBibitem.cpp
index ded2b8b9cc..fc158a0233 100644
--- a/src/insets/InsetBibitem.cpp
+++ b/src/insets/InsetBibitem.cpp
@@ -20,12 +20,14 @@
 #include "BufferView.h"
 #include "Counters.h"
 #include "DispatchResult.h"
+#include "Encoding.h"
 #include "FuncRequest.h"
 #include "InsetIterator.h"
 #include "InsetList.h"
 #include "Language.h" 
 #include "Lexer.h"
 #include "output_xhtml.h"
+#include "OutputParams.h"
 #include "Paragraph.h"
 #include "ParagraphList.h"
 #include "ParIterator.h"
@@ -34,6 +36,7 @@
 #include "frontends/alert.h"
 
 #include "support/convert.h"
+#include "support/debug.h"
 #include "support/docstream.h"
 #include "support/gettext.h"
 #include "support/lstrings.h"
@@ -172,8 +175,48 @@ int InsetBibitem::plaintext(odocstream & os, OutputParams const &) const
 }
 
 
+int InsetBibitem::latex(odocstream & os, OutputParams const & runparams) const
+{
+	docstring cmd = '\\' + from_ascii(defaultCommand());
+	docstring uncodable;
+	if (!getParam("label").empty()) {
+		cmd += '[';
+		docstring orig = getParam("label");
+		for (size_t n = 0; n < orig.size(); ++n) {
+			try {
+				cmd += runparams.encoding->latexChar(orig[n]);
+			} catch (EncodingException & /* e */) {
+				LYXERR0("Uncodable character in bibitem!");
+				if (runparams.dryrun) {
+					cmd += "<" + _("LyX Warning: ")
+					    + _("uncodable character") + " '";
+					cmd += docstring(1, orig[n]);
+					cmd += "'>";
+				} else
+					uncodable += orig[n];
+			}
+		}
+		cmd += ']';
+	}
+	cmd += '{' + escape(getParam("key")) + '}';
+
+	os << cmd;
+
+	if (!uncodable.empty()) {
+		// issue a warning about omitted characters
+		// FIXME: should be passed to the error dialog
+		frontend::Alert::warning(_("Uncodable characters in bibliography item"),
+			bformat(_("The following characters in one of the bibliography items are\n"
+				  "not representable in the current encoding and have been omitted:\n%1$s."),
+			uncodable));
+	}
+	
+	return 0;
+}
+
+
 // ale070405
-docstring bibitemWidest(Buffer const & buffer)
+docstring bibitemWidest(Buffer const & buffer, OutputParams const & runparams)
 {
 	int w = 0;
 
@@ -234,8 +277,22 @@ docstring bibitemWidest(Buffer const & buffer)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (!lbl.empty())
-		return lbl;
+	if (!lbl.empty()) {
+		docstring latex_lbl;
+		for (size_t n = 0; n < lbl.size(); ++n) {
+			try {
+				latex_lbl += runparams.encoding->latexChar(lbl[n]);
+			} catch (EncodingException & /* e */) {
+				if (runparams.dryrun) {
+					latex_lbl += "<" + _("LyX Warning: ")
+						  + _("uncodable character") + " '";
+					latex_lbl += docstring(1, lbl[n]);
+					latex_lbl += "'>";
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		return latex_lbl;
+	}
 
 	return from_ascii("99");
 }
diff --git a/src/insets/InsetBibitem.h b/src/insets/InsetBibitem.h
index 98fdf9ff8e..74ae2f8249 100644
--- a/src/insets/InsetBibitem.h
+++ b/src/insets/InsetBibitem.h
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ private:
 	///
 	docstring xhtml(XHTMLStream &, OutputParams const &) const;
 	///
+	int latex(odocstream &, OutputParams const &) const;
+	///
 	virtual void fillWithBibKeys(BiblioInfo &, InsetIterator const &) const;
 	/// Update the counter of this inset
 	void updateLabels(ParIterator const &, UpdateType);
@@ -73,7 +75,7 @@ private:
 	///
 	Inset * clone() const { return new InsetBibitem(*this); }
 
-	friend docstring bibitemWidest(Buffer const & buffer);
+	friend docstring bibitemWidest(Buffer const & buffer, OutputParams const &);
 	/// The label that is set by updateLabels
 	docstring autolabel_;
 	///
@@ -82,7 +84,7 @@ private:
 
 
 /// Return the widest label in the Bibliography.
-docstring bibitemWidest(Buffer const &);
+docstring bibitemWidest(Buffer const &, OutputParams const &);
 
 } // namespace lyx
 
diff --git a/src/insets/InsetCitation.cpp b/src/insets/InsetCitation.cpp
index 8ea7da606d..8c97550ae1 100644
--- a/src/insets/InsetCitation.cpp
+++ b/src/insets/InsetCitation.cpp
@@ -547,6 +547,7 @@ void InsetCitation::tocString(odocstream & os) const
 int InsetCitation::latex(odocstream & os, OutputParams const & runparams) const
 {
 	CiteEngine cite_engine = buffer().params().citeEngine();
+	BiblioInfo const & bi = buffer().masterBibInfo();
 	// FIXME UNICODE
 	docstring const cite_str = from_utf8(
 		asValidLatexCommand(getCmdName(), cite_engine));
@@ -563,7 +564,11 @@ int InsetCitation::latex(odocstream & os, OutputParams const & runparams) const
 	else if (!after.empty())
 		os << '[' << after << ']';
 
-	os << '{' << cleanupWhitespace(getParam("key")) << '}';
+	if (!bi.isBibtex(getParam("key")))
+		// escape chars with bibitems
+		os << '{' << escape(cleanupWhitespace(getParam("key"))) << '}';
+	else
+		os << '{' << cleanupWhitespace(getParam("key")) << '}';
 
 	if (runparams.inulemcmd)
 		os << "}";
diff --git a/src/output_latex.cpp b/src/output_latex.cpp
index a7af2199d6..5457dee3df 100644
--- a/src/output_latex.cpp
+++ b/src/output_latex.cpp
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ TeXEnvironment(Buffer const & buf,
 			   << "}\n";
 		} else if (style.labeltype == LABEL_BIBLIO) {
 			if (pit->params().labelWidthString().empty())
-				os << '{' << bibitemWidest(buf) << "}\n";
+				os << '{' << bibitemWidest(buf, runparams) << "}\n";
 			else
 				os << '{'
 				  << pit->params().labelWidthString()