diff --git a/src/znc.cpp b/src/znc.cpp
index c01960c0..4a181a2a 100644
--- a/src/znc.cpp
+++ b/src/znc.cpp
@@ -2074,11 +2074,13 @@ void CZNC::ResumeConnectQueue() {
 
 void CZNC::ForceEncoding() {
     m_uiForceEncoding++;
+#ifdef HAVE_ICU
     for (Csock* pSock : GetManager()) {
         if (pSock->GetEncoding().empty()) {
             pSock->SetEncoding("UTF-8");
         }
     }
+#endif
 }
 void CZNC::UnforceEncoding() { m_uiForceEncoding--; }
 bool CZNC::IsForcingEncoding() const { return m_uiForceEncoding; }