diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/exec/PmdExecutor.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/exec/PmdExecutor.java
index 169119a9..10a09c3c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/exec/PmdExecutor.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/exec/PmdExecutor.java
@@ -207,6 +207,10 @@ private PmdResult run() throws MavenReportException
         LOG.debug( "Using language " + languageVersion );
         configuration.setDefaultLanguageVersion( languageVersion );
 
+        if ( request.getSourceEncoding() != null )
+        {
+            configuration.setSourceEncoding( request.getSourceEncoding() );
+        }
         try
         {
             configuration.prependClasspath( request.getAuxClasspath() );