diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpMessageEncoder.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpMessageEncoder.java
index 82325dc2a0..90691a3d69 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpMessageEncoder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpMessageEncoder.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ package org.jboss.netty.handler.codec.http;
 import static org.jboss.netty.buffer.ChannelBuffers.*;
 import static org.jboss.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpCodecUtil.*;
 
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Set;
 
@@ -95,16 +96,20 @@ public abstract class HttpMessageEncoder extends OneToOneEncoder {
      */
     public void encodeHeaders(ChannelBuffer buf, HttpMessage message) {
         Set<String> headers = message.getHeaderNames();
-        for (String header : headers) {
-            List<String> values = message.getHeaders(header);
-            for (String value : values) {
+        try {
+            for (String header : headers) {
+                List<String> values = message.getHeaders(header);
+                for (String value : values) {
 
-                buf.writeBytes(header.getBytes());
-                buf.writeByte(COLON);
-                buf.writeByte(SP);
-                buf.writeBytes(value.getBytes());
-                buf.writeBytes(CRLF);
+                    buf.writeBytes(header.getBytes("ASCII"));
+                    buf.writeByte(COLON);
+                    buf.writeByte(SP);
+                    buf.writeBytes(value.getBytes("ASCII"));
+                    buf.writeBytes(CRLF);
+                }
             }
+        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
+            throw (Error) new Error().initCause(e);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpRequestEncoder.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpRequestEncoder.java
index cb3984201e..92b158a9ed 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpRequestEncoder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpRequestEncoder.java
@@ -40,11 +40,11 @@ public class HttpRequestEncoder extends HttpMessageEncoder {
     @Override
     protected void encodeInitialLine(ChannelBuffer buf, HttpMessage message) throws Exception {
         HttpRequest request = (HttpRequest) message;
-        buf.writeBytes(request.getMethod().toString().getBytes());
+        buf.writeBytes(request.getMethod().toString().getBytes("ASCII"));
         buf.writeByte(SP);
-        buf.writeBytes(request.getUri().getBytes());
+        buf.writeBytes(request.getUri().getBytes("ASCII"));
         buf.writeByte(SP);
-        buf.writeBytes(request.getProtocolVersion().toString().getBytes());
+        buf.writeBytes(request.getProtocolVersion().toString().getBytes("ASCII"));
         buf.writeBytes(CRLF);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpResponseEncoder.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpResponseEncoder.java
index df3681863b..6c61e91f23 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpResponseEncoder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpResponseEncoder.java
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ package org.jboss.netty.handler.codec.http;
 
 import static org.jboss.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpCodecUtil.*;
 
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
+
 import org.jboss.netty.buffer.ChannelBuffer;
 
 /**
@@ -38,12 +40,16 @@ public class HttpResponseEncoder extends HttpMessageEncoder {
     @Override
     protected void encodeInitialLine(ChannelBuffer buf, HttpMessage message) {
         HttpResponse response = (HttpResponse) message;
-        buf.writeBytes(response.getProtocolVersion().toString().getBytes());
-        buf.writeByte(SP);
-        buf.writeBytes(String.valueOf(response.getStatus().getCode()).getBytes());
-        buf.writeByte(SP);
-        buf.writeBytes(String.valueOf(response.getStatus().getReasonPhrase()).getBytes());
-        buf.writeBytes(CRLF);
+        try {
+            buf.writeBytes(response.getProtocolVersion().toString().getBytes("ASCII"));
+            buf.writeByte(SP);
+            buf.writeBytes(String.valueOf(response.getStatus().getCode()).getBytes("ASCII"));
+            buf.writeByte(SP);
+            buf.writeBytes(String.valueOf(response.getStatus().getReasonPhrase()).getBytes("ASCII"));
+            buf.writeBytes(CRLF);
+        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
+            throw (Error) new Error().initCause(e);
+        }
     }
 
 }