diff --git a/init/daemonAdapter b/init/daemonAdapter
index 280d50711f..5ff1503502 100755
--- a/init/daemonAdapter
+++ b/init/daemonAdapter
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ class DaemonAdapter(object):
                     'vars', 'libvirt_env_variable_log_filters'),
                 'LIBVIRT_LOG_OUTPUTS': config.get(
                     'vars', 'libvirt_env_variable_log_outputs'),
-                'LC_ALL': 'C',
+                'LC_ALL': 'C.UTF8',
                 'PYTHONPATH': pythonpath,
             })
 
diff --git a/init/vdsmd_init_common.sh.in b/init/vdsmd_init_common.sh.in
index 623f567a4c..7a14511944 100755
--- a/init/vdsmd_init_common.sh.in
+++ b/init/vdsmd_init_common.sh.in
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ task_test_space() {
 
 
 task_test_lo() {
-    if ! LC_ALL=C "@IP_PATH@" link show lo | "@GREP_PATH@" -q UP; then
+    if ! LC_ALL=C.UTF8 "@IP_PATH@" link show lo | "@GREP_PATH@" -q UP; then
         echo "VDSMD: lo interface is down, can't run !"
         echo "VDSMD: lo interface is down, can't run !" > /dev/kmsg
         return 1
diff --git a/tests/check_rpms.sh b/tests/check_rpms.sh
index f12c5c4d13..716d755c7e 100755
--- a/tests/check_rpms.sh
+++ b/tests/check_rpms.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ shopt -s extglob
 
 ARTIFACTS_DIR=$1
 
-export LC_ALL=C  # no idea why this is suddenly needed
+export LC_ALL=C.UTF8  # no idea why this is suddenly needed
 
 rpmlint "$ARTIFACTS_DIR/"*.src.rpm
 
diff --git a/tests/run_tests_local.sh.in b/tests/run_tests_local.sh.in
index 0a7aabcdfb..4c9824d799 100644
--- a/tests/run_tests_local.sh.in
+++ b/tests/run_tests_local.sh.in
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ function terminate_jobs {
 trap terminate_jobs EXIT
 
 export \
-    LC_ALL=C \
+    LC_ALL=C.UTF8 \
     NOSE_EVAL_ATTR \
     NOSE_LOGFORMAT='%(asctime)s %(levelname)-5s (%(threadName)s) [%(name)s] %(message)s (%(module)s:%(lineno)d)' \
     NOSE_VERBOSE=${NOSE_VERBOSE:-1} \
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index fbd3ff5607..69bf21f594 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ whitelist_externals = profile
 passenv = *
 setenv =
     PYTHONPATH = {toxinidir}/lib
-    LC_ALL = C
+    LC_ALL = C.UTF8
 deps =
     nose==1.3.7
     pytest-cov==2.8.1
diff --git a/vdsm.spec.in b/vdsm.spec.in
index 048037c6e7..0f13a0e415 100644
--- a/vdsm.spec.in
+++ b/vdsm.spec.in
@@ -866,7 +866,7 @@ make DESTDIR=%{buildroot} install
 
 %pre
 # Force standard locale behavior (English)
-export LC_ALL=C
+export LC_ALL=C.UTF8
 
 /usr/bin/getent passwd %{vdsm_user} >/dev/null || \
     /usr/sbin/useradd -r -u 36 -g %{vdsm_group} -d /var/lib/vdsm \