diff --git a/lib/gettext/tools/msginit.rb b/lib/gettext/tools/msginit.rb
index 710d013b..3e8a06e3 100644
--- a/lib/gettext/tools/msginit.rb
+++ b/lib/gettext/tools/msginit.rb
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ def initialize
         @output_file = nil
         @locale = nil
         @language = nil
+        @charset = nil
         @entry = nil
         @comment = nil
         @translator = nil
@@ -180,6 +181,11 @@ def validate
         end
         @locale = language_tag.to_simple.to_s
         @language = language_tag.language
+        if language_tag.respond_to?(:charset)
+          @charset = language_tag.charset
+        else
+          @charset = Locale.charset
+        end
 
         @output_file ||= "#{@locale}.po"
         if File.exist?(@output_file)
@@ -280,6 +286,7 @@ def replace_entry
         replace_pot_revision_date
         replace_language
         replace_plural_forms
+        replace_charset
       end
 
       def replace_comment
@@ -325,6 +332,12 @@ def replace_plural_forms
         end
       end
 
+      CONTENT_TYPE_CHARSET = /^(Content-Type:.+ charset=)CHARSET/
+
+      def replace_charset
+        @entry = @entry.gsub(CONTENT_TYPE_CHARSET, "\\1#{@charset}")
+      end
+
       def plural_forms(language)
         converter = CLDRPluralsConverter.new(language)
         converter.convert
diff --git a/test/tools/test_msginit.rb b/test/tools/test_msginit.rb
index 27e6e8ac..69aa5f3c 100644
--- a/test/tools/test_msginit.rb
+++ b/test/tools/test_msginit.rb
@@ -49,6 +49,10 @@ def current_language
     Locale.current.language
   end
 
+  def current_charset
+    Locale.current.charset
+  end
+
   def translator_name
     "me"
   end
@@ -57,6 +61,10 @@ def translator_email
     "me@example.com"
   end
 
+  def template_charset
+    "CHARSET"
+  end
+
   def create_pot_file(path, options=nil)
     options ||= {}
     File.open(path, "w") do |pot_file|
@@ -77,6 +85,7 @@ def pot_header(options)
     options = default_po_header_options.merge(options)
     package_name = options[:package_name] || default_package_name
     have_plural_forms = options[:have_plural_forms] || true
+    charset = options[:charset] || "UTF-8"
     header = <<EOF
 # SOME DESCRIPTIVE TITLE.
 # Copyright (C) YEAR THE PACKAGE'S COPYRIGHT HOLDER
@@ -93,7 +102,7 @@ def pot_header(options)
 "Language: \\n"
 "Language-Team: LANGUAGE <LL@li.org>\\n"
 "MIME-Version: 1.0\\n"
-"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\\n"
+"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=#{charset}\\n"
 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\\n"
 EOF
     if have_plural_forms
@@ -109,6 +118,7 @@ def po_header(locale, language, options={})
     name = options[:translator_name] || "FULL NAME"
     email = options[:translator_email] || "EMAIL@ADDRESS"
     language_name = Locale::Info.get_language(language).name
+    charset = options[:charset] || "UTF-8"
     plural_forms = @msginit.send(:plural_forms, language)
 
     <<EOF
@@ -126,7 +136,7 @@ def po_header(locale, language, options={})
 "Language: #{locale}\\n"
 "Language-Team: #{language_name}\\n"
 "MIME-Version: 1.0\\n"
-"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\\n"
+"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=#{charset}\\n"
 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\\n"
 "Plural-Forms: #{plural_forms}\\n"
 EOF
@@ -196,8 +206,8 @@ def test_specify_option
   end
 
   class TestLocale < self
-    def run_msginit(locale)
-      create_pot_file("test.pot")
+    def run_msginit(locale, pot_charset=nil)
+      create_pot_file("test.pot", charset: pot_charset)
       po_file_path = "output.po"
       @msginit.run("--output", po_file_path,
                    "--locale", locale)
@@ -224,6 +234,50 @@ def test_language_region_charset
       assert_equal(po_header(locale, language),
                    run_msginit("#{locale}.#{charset}"))
     end
+
+    def test_language_charset_with_template_charset
+      locale = "en"
+      assert_equal(po_header(locale, locale),
+                   run_msginit(locale, template_charset))
+    end
+
+    def test_language_region_with_template_charset
+      locale = "en_US"
+      language = "en"
+      assert_equal(po_header(locale, language),
+                   run_msginit(locale, template_charset))
+    end
+
+    def test_language_region_charset_with_template_charset
+      locale = "en_US"
+      language = "en"
+      charset = "UTF-8"
+      assert_equal(po_header(locale, language),
+                   run_msginit("#{locale}.#{charset}", template_charset))
+    end
+  end
+
+  class TestCurrentCharset < self
+    def run_msginit(pot_charset)
+      create_pot_file("test.pot", charset: pot_charset)
+      po_file_path = "output.po"
+      @msginit.run("--output", po_file_path)
+      File.read(po_file_path)
+    end
+
+    def po_header(options)
+      super(current_locale, current_language, options)
+    end
+
+    def test_template_charset
+      assert_equal(po_header(charset: current_charset),
+                   run_msginit(template_charset))
+    end
+
+    def test_no_template_charset
+      assert_equal(po_header(charset: "ASCII"),
+                   run_msginit("ASCII"))
+    end
   end
 
   class TestTranslator < self