diff --git a/src/wrapexpat.cpp b/src/wrapexpat.cpp
index 06ad740..402c981 100644
--- a/src/wrapexpat.cpp
+++ b/src/wrapexpat.cpp
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include <sstream>
 
-WrapExpat::WrapExpat ( bool nameSpaceAware )
+WrapExpat::WrapExpat ( bool nameSpaceAware, const char *encoding )
 {
-	p = ( nameSpaceAware ) ? XML_ParserCreateNS ( NULL, ( XML_Char ) ':' ) : XML_ParserCreate ( NULL );
+	p = ( nameSpaceAware ) ? XML_ParserCreateNS ( encoding, ( XML_Char ) ':' ) : XML_ParserCreate ( encoding );
 	if ( p == 0 )
 		throw runtime_error ( "WrapExpat::WrapExpat" );
 }
diff --git a/src/wrapexpat.h b/src/wrapexpat.h
index 039b480..e71ef88 100644
--- a/src/wrapexpat.h
+++ b/src/wrapexpat.h
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ using namespace std;
 class WrapExpat
 {
 	public:
-		WrapExpat ( bool nameSpaceAware = false );
+		WrapExpat ( bool nameSpaceAware = false, const char *encoding = NULL );
 		virtual ~WrapExpat();
 		bool parse ( const string &buffer, bool isFinal = true );
 		bool parse ( const char *buffer, size_t size, bool isFinal = true );
diff --git a/src/xmlcopyeditor.cpp b/src/xmlcopyeditor.cpp
index 8837117..e341919 100644
--- a/src/xmlcopyeditor.cpp
+++ b/src/xmlcopyeditor.cpp
@@ -5921,22 +5921,21 @@ void MyFrame::OnWordCount ( wxCommandEvent& event )
 	XmlDoc *doc;
 	if ( ( doc = getActiveDocument() ) == NULL )
 		return;
-	wxString wideBuffer;
-	std::string buffer;
-	wideBuffer = doc->GetText();
-	buffer = wideBuffer.mb_str ( wxConvUTF8 );
 
-	auto_ptr<XmlWordCount> xwc ( new XmlWordCount() );
+	std::string rawBufferUtf8;
+	getRawText ( doc, rawBufferUtf8 );
+
+	XmlWordCount xwc ( "UTF-8" );
 	wxString msg;
-	if ( !xwc->parse ( buffer.c_str() ) )
+	if ( !xwc.parse ( rawBufferUtf8 ) )
 	{
 		statusProgress ( wxEmptyString );
-		msg.Printf ( _ ( "Cannot count words: %s" ), xwc->getLastError().c_str() );
+		msg.Printf ( _ ( "Cannot count words: %s" ), xwc.getLastError().c_str() );
 		messagePane ( msg, CONST_STOP );
 		return;
 	}
 
-	int count = xwc->getWordCount();
+	int count = xwc.getWordCount();
 
 	msg.Printf (
 	    wxPLURAL ( "%s contains %i word", "%s contains %i words", count ),
diff --git a/src/xmlwordcount.cpp b/src/xmlwordcount.cpp
index b1b0106..1ef88e7 100644
--- a/src/xmlwordcount.cpp
+++ b/src/xmlwordcount.cpp
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@
 #include "xmlwordcount.h"
 #include "getword.h"
 
-XmlWordCount::XmlWordCount() : wcd ( new WordCountData() )
+XmlWordCount::XmlWordCount ( const char *encoding )
+	: WrapExpat ( false, encoding )
+	, wcd ( new WordCountData() )
 {
 	wcd->wordCount = 0;
 	XML_SetUserData ( p, wcd.get() );
diff --git a/src/xmlwordcount.h b/src/xmlwordcount.h
index 47b0ee9..c2a816c 100644
--- a/src/xmlwordcount.h
+++ b/src/xmlwordcount.h
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ struct WordCountData : public ParserData
 class XmlWordCount : public WrapExpat
 {
 	public:
-		XmlWordCount();
+		XmlWordCount ( const char *encoding = NULL );
 		virtual ~XmlWordCount();
 
 		int getWordCount();