diff --git a/examples/src/main/java/io/druid/examples/web/WebJsonSupplier.java b/examples/src/main/java/io/druid/examples/web/WebJsonSupplier.java
index 9372f721145..39d0fae1882 100644
--- a/examples/src/main/java/io/druid/examples/web/WebJsonSupplier.java
+++ b/examples/src/main/java/io/druid/examples/web/WebJsonSupplier.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package io.druid.examples.web;
 
 import com.google.api.client.repackaged.com.google.common.base.Throwables;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.io.InputSupplier;
 import com.metamx.emitter.EmittingLogger;
@@ -55,6 +56,6 @@ public class WebJsonSupplier implements InputSupplier<BufferedReader>
   {
     URLConnection connection = url.openConnection();
     connection.setDoInput(true);
-    return new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(url.openStream()));
+    return new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(url.openStream(), Charsets.UTF_8));
   }
 }
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/granularity/PeriodGranularity.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/granularity/PeriodGranularity.java
index aa8b41439a3..2aef4ff4044 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/granularity/PeriodGranularity.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/granularity/PeriodGranularity.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.granularity;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import org.joda.time.Chronology;
 import org.joda.time.DateTime;
 import org.joda.time.DateTimeZone;
@@ -325,7 +326,7 @@ public class  PeriodGranularity extends BaseQueryGranularity
   @Override
   public byte[] cacheKey()
   {
-    return (period.toString() + ":" + chronology.getZone().toString()).getBytes();
+    return (period.toString() + ":" + chronology.getZone().toString()).getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/DoubleSumAggregatorFactory.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/DoubleSumAggregatorFactory.java
index 083a16589dc..713022efade 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/DoubleSumAggregatorFactory.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/DoubleSumAggregatorFactory.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.aggregation;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.primitives.Doubles;
 import io.druid.segment.ColumnSelectorFactory;
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ public class DoubleSumAggregatorFactory implements AggregatorFactory
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] fieldNameBytes = fieldName.getBytes();
+    byte[] fieldNameBytes = fieldName.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
 
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + fieldNameBytes.length).put(CACHE_TYPE_ID).put(fieldNameBytes).array();
   }
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/HistogramAggregatorFactory.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/HistogramAggregatorFactory.java
index 422d8279a2e..5a99ac9d18c 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/HistogramAggregatorFactory.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/HistogramAggregatorFactory.java
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ public class HistogramAggregatorFactory implements AggregatorFactory
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] fieldNameBytes = fieldName.getBytes();
+    byte[] fieldNameBytes = fieldName.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + fieldNameBytes.length).put(CACHE_TYPE_ID).put(fieldNameBytes).array();
   }
 
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/LongSumAggregatorFactory.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/LongSumAggregatorFactory.java
index 963d9458beb..249d37045a0 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/LongSumAggregatorFactory.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/LongSumAggregatorFactory.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.aggregation;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.primitives.Longs;
 import io.druid.segment.ColumnSelectorFactory;
@@ -125,7 +126,7 @@ public class LongSumAggregatorFactory implements AggregatorFactory
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] fieldNameBytes = fieldName.getBytes();
+    byte[] fieldNameBytes = fieldName.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
 
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + fieldNameBytes.length).put(CACHE_TYPE_ID).put(fieldNameBytes).array();
   }
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/MaxAggregatorFactory.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/MaxAggregatorFactory.java
index 56e6de5f56e..23c8b066c25 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/MaxAggregatorFactory.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/MaxAggregatorFactory.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.aggregation;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.primitives.Doubles;
 import io.druid.segment.ColumnSelectorFactory;
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ public class MaxAggregatorFactory implements AggregatorFactory
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] fieldNameBytes = fieldName.getBytes();
+    byte[] fieldNameBytes = fieldName.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
 
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + fieldNameBytes.length).put(CACHE_TYPE_ID).put(fieldNameBytes).array();
   }
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/MinAggregatorFactory.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/MinAggregatorFactory.java
index e7256d0ccb9..859ed2b23cd 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/MinAggregatorFactory.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/aggregation/MinAggregatorFactory.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.aggregation;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.primitives.Doubles;
 import io.druid.segment.ColumnSelectorFactory;
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ public class MinAggregatorFactory implements AggregatorFactory
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] fieldNameBytes = fieldName.getBytes();
+    byte[] fieldNameBytes = fieldName.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
 
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + fieldNameBytes.length).put(CACHE_TYPE_ID).put(fieldNameBytes).array();
   }
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/dimension/DefaultDimensionSpec.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/dimension/DefaultDimensionSpec.java
index ee5ee674293..cb44fe59c6c 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/dimension/DefaultDimensionSpec.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/dimension/DefaultDimensionSpec.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.dimension;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import io.druid.query.extraction.DimExtractionFn;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ public class DefaultDimensionSpec implements DimensionSpec
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] dimensionBytes = dimension.getBytes();
+    byte[] dimensionBytes = dimension.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
 
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + dimensionBytes.length)
                      .put(CACHE_TYPE_ID)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/dimension/ExtractionDimensionSpec.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/dimension/ExtractionDimensionSpec.java
index 878de5bbad5..c692f1399fb 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/dimension/ExtractionDimensionSpec.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/dimension/ExtractionDimensionSpec.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.dimension;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import io.druid.query.extraction.DimExtractionFn;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ public class ExtractionDimensionSpec implements DimensionSpec
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] dimensionBytes = dimension.getBytes();
+    byte[] dimensionBytes = dimension.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
     byte[] dimExtractionFnBytes = dimExtractionFn.getCacheKey();
 
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + dimensionBytes.length + dimExtractionFnBytes.length)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/JavascriptDimExtractionFn.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/JavascriptDimExtractionFn.java
index 3935e07c293..e8099e643a4 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/JavascriptDimExtractionFn.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/JavascriptDimExtractionFn.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.extraction;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Function;
 import org.mozilla.javascript.Context;
 import org.mozilla.javascript.ContextFactory;
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ public class JavascriptDimExtractionFn implements DimExtractionFn
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] bytes = function.getBytes();
+    byte[] bytes = function.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + bytes.length)
                      .put(CACHE_TYPE_ID)
                      .put(bytes)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/PartialDimExtractionFn.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/PartialDimExtractionFn.java
index 8b6a3b58017..323c7989387 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/PartialDimExtractionFn.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/PartialDimExtractionFn.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.extraction;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ public class PartialDimExtractionFn implements DimExtractionFn
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] exprBytes = expr.getBytes();
+    byte[] exprBytes = expr.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + exprBytes.length)
                      .put(CACHE_TYPE_ID)
                      .put(exprBytes)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/RegexDimExtractionFn.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/RegexDimExtractionFn.java
index 50a418afed3..636507c1273 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/RegexDimExtractionFn.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/RegexDimExtractionFn.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.extraction;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ public class RegexDimExtractionFn implements DimExtractionFn
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] exprBytes = expr.getBytes();
+    byte[] exprBytes = expr.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + exprBytes.length)
                      .put(CACHE_TYPE_ID)
                      .put(exprBytes)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/TimeDimExtractionFn.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/TimeDimExtractionFn.java
index 215f8c32aee..25c7bde0cfa 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/TimeDimExtractionFn.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/extraction/TimeDimExtractionFn.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.extraction;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.ibm.icu.text.SimpleDateFormat;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ public class TimeDimExtractionFn implements DimExtractionFn
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] timeFormatBytes = timeFormat.getBytes();
+    byte[] timeFormatBytes = timeFormat.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + timeFormatBytes.length)
                      .put(CACHE_TYPE_ID)
                      .put(timeFormatBytes)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/filter/ExtractionDimFilter.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/filter/ExtractionDimFilter.java
index 8ce26f71f99..65fa0e4494c 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/filter/ExtractionDimFilter.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/filter/ExtractionDimFilter.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.filter;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import io.druid.query.extraction.DimExtractionFn;
 
@@ -71,8 +72,8 @@ public class ExtractionDimFilter implements DimFilter
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] dimensionBytes = dimension.getBytes();
-    byte[] valueBytes = value.getBytes();
+    byte[] dimensionBytes = dimension.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
+    byte[] valueBytes = value.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
 
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + dimensionBytes.length + valueBytes.length)
                      .put(DimFilterCacheHelper.EXTRACTION_CACHE_ID)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/filter/SelectorDimFilter.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/filter/SelectorDimFilter.java
index b8d1580a169..414b475d1fe 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/filter/SelectorDimFilter.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/filter/SelectorDimFilter.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.filter;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
@@ -47,8 +48,8 @@ public class SelectorDimFilter implements DimFilter
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] dimensionBytes = dimension.getBytes();
-    byte[] valueBytes = (value == null) ? new byte[]{} : value.getBytes();
+    byte[] dimensionBytes = dimension.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
+    byte[] valueBytes = (value == null) ? new byte[]{} : value.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
 
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + dimensionBytes.length + valueBytes.length)
                      .put(DimFilterCacheHelper.SELECTOR_CACHE_ID)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/filter/SpatialDimFilter.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/filter/SpatialDimFilter.java
index 2abcc9282b3..7148ebf55e7 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/filter/SpatialDimFilter.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/filter/SpatialDimFilter.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ package io.druid.query.filter;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.metamx.collections.spatial.search.Bound;
 
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ public class SpatialDimFilter implements DimFilter
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] dimBytes = dimension.getBytes();
+    byte[] dimBytes = dimension.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
     byte[] boundBytes = bound.getCacheKey();
 
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + dimBytes.length + boundBytes.length)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/having/EqualToHavingSpec.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/having/EqualToHavingSpec.java
index bc26524e60b..b0389edfca7 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/having/EqualToHavingSpec.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/having/EqualToHavingSpec.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.groupby.having;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.primitives.Bytes;
 import io.druid.data.input.Row;
 
@@ -71,7 +72,7 @@ public class EqualToHavingSpec implements HavingSpec
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    final byte[] aggBytes = aggregationName.getBytes();
+    final byte[] aggBytes = aggregationName.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
     final byte[] valBytes = Bytes.toArray(Arrays.asList(value));
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + aggBytes.length + valBytes.length)
                      .put(CACHE_KEY)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/having/GreaterThanHavingSpec.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/having/GreaterThanHavingSpec.java
index 68a8113bf55..19349a2098b 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/having/GreaterThanHavingSpec.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/having/GreaterThanHavingSpec.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.groupby.having;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.primitives.Bytes;
 import io.druid.data.input.Row;
 
@@ -71,7 +72,7 @@ public class GreaterThanHavingSpec implements HavingSpec
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    final byte[] aggBytes = aggregationName.getBytes();
+    final byte[] aggBytes = aggregationName.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
     final byte[] valBytes = Bytes.toArray(Arrays.asList(value));
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + aggBytes.length + valBytes.length)
                      .put(CACHE_KEY)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/having/LessThanHavingSpec.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/having/LessThanHavingSpec.java
index 4ee782734f2..284ddc7042c 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/having/LessThanHavingSpec.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/having/LessThanHavingSpec.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package io.druid.query.groupby.having;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.primitives.Bytes;
 import io.druid.data.input.Row;
 
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ public class LessThanHavingSpec implements HavingSpec
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    final byte[] aggBytes = aggregationName.getBytes();
+    final byte[] aggBytes = aggregationName.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
     final byte[] valBytes = Bytes.toArray(Arrays.asList(value));
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + aggBytes.length + valBytes.length)
                      .put(CACHE_KEY)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/orderby/OrderByColumnSpec.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/orderby/OrderByColumnSpec.java
index efb91a9c3c0..2c471d62507 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/orderby/OrderByColumnSpec.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/groupby/orderby/OrderByColumnSpec.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.groupby.orderby;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Function;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
@@ -182,8 +183,8 @@ public class OrderByColumnSpec
 
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    final byte[] dimensionBytes = dimension.getBytes();
-    final byte[] directionBytes = direction.name().getBytes();
+    final byte[] dimensionBytes = dimension.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
+    final byte[] directionBytes = direction.name().getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
 
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(dimensionBytes.length + directionBytes.length)
                      .put(dimensionBytes)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/SearchQueryQueryToolChest.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/SearchQueryQueryToolChest.java
index 558d7ee3f13..74fc8d55f17 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/SearchQueryQueryToolChest.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/SearchQueryQueryToolChest.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package io.druid.query.search;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.type.TypeReference;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Function;
 import com.google.common.base.Functions;
 import com.google.common.base.Joiner;
@@ -172,7 +173,7 @@ public class SearchQueryQueryToolChest extends QueryToolChest<Result<SearchResul
         int dimensionsBytesSize = 0;
         int index = 0;
         for (String dimension : dimensions) {
-          dimensionsBytes[index] = dimension.getBytes();
+          dimensionsBytes[index] = dimension.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
           dimensionsBytesSize += dimensionsBytes[index].length;
           ++index;
         }
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/FragmentSearchQuerySpec.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/FragmentSearchQuerySpec.java
index b2f0c6f13b3..6506db8e3ef 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/FragmentSearchQuerySpec.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/FragmentSearchQuerySpec.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.search.search;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Function;
 import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
 
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ public class FragmentSearchQuerySpec implements SearchQuerySpec
     int valuesBytesSize = 0;
     int index = 0;
     for (String value : values) {
-      valuesBytes[index] = value.getBytes();
+      valuesBytes[index] = value.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
       valuesBytesSize += valuesBytes[index].length;
       ++index;
     }
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/InsensitiveContainsSearchQuerySpec.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/InsensitiveContainsSearchQuerySpec.java
index 9fda1b09d68..8cfad0f9554 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/InsensitiveContainsSearchQuerySpec.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/InsensitiveContainsSearchQuerySpec.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.search.search;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ public class InsensitiveContainsSearchQuerySpec implements SearchQuerySpec
   @Override
   public byte[] getCacheKey()
   {
-    byte[] valueBytes = value.getBytes();
+    byte[] valueBytes = value.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
 
     return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + valueBytes.length)
                      .put(CACHE_TYPE_ID)
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/select/PagingSpec.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/select/PagingSpec.java
index 0ad5b56635d..aa38b91e7fc 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/select/PagingSpec.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/select/PagingSpec.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.select;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.primitives.Ints;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
@@ -65,7 +66,7 @@ public class PagingSpec
     int pagingKeysSize = 0;
     int pagingValuesSize = 0;
     for (Map.Entry<String, Integer> entry : pagingIdentifiers.entrySet()) {
-      pagingKeys[index] = entry.getKey().getBytes();
+      pagingKeys[index] = entry.getKey().getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
       pagingValues[index] = ByteBuffer.allocate(Ints.BYTES).putInt(entry.getValue()).array();
       pagingKeysSize += pagingKeys[index].length;
       pagingValuesSize += Ints.BYTES;
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/select/SelectQueryQueryToolChest.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/select/SelectQueryQueryToolChest.java
index 345aeff1d5b..6f08110f781 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/select/SelectQueryQueryToolChest.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/select/SelectQueryQueryToolChest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.query.select;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.type.TypeReference;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Function;
 import com.google.common.base.Functions;
 import com.google.common.base.Joiner;
@@ -173,7 +174,7 @@ public class SelectQueryQueryToolChest extends QueryToolChest<Result<SelectResul
         int dimensionsBytesSize = 0;
         int index = 0;
         for (String dimension : dimensions) {
-          dimensionsBytes[index] = dimension.getBytes();
+          dimensionsBytes[index] = dimension.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
           dimensionsBytesSize += dimensionsBytes[index].length;
           ++index;
         }
@@ -187,7 +188,7 @@ public class SelectQueryQueryToolChest extends QueryToolChest<Result<SelectResul
         int metricBytesSize = 0;
         index = 0;
         for (String metric : metrics) {
-          metricBytes[index] = metric.getBytes();
+          metricBytes[index] = metric.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
           metricBytesSize += metricBytes[index].length;
           ++index;
         }
diff --git a/rabbitmq/src/main/java/io/druid/firehose/rabbitmq/RabbitMQFirehoseFactory.java b/rabbitmq/src/main/java/io/druid/firehose/rabbitmq/RabbitMQFirehoseFactory.java
index 55ac63e19cb..8504c70ed9d 100644
--- a/rabbitmq/src/main/java/io/druid/firehose/rabbitmq/RabbitMQFirehoseFactory.java
+++ b/rabbitmq/src/main/java/io/druid/firehose/rabbitmq/RabbitMQFirehoseFactory.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package io.druid.firehose.rabbitmq;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.metamx.common.logger.Logger;
 import com.rabbitmq.client.AMQP;
 import com.rabbitmq.client.Channel;
@@ -227,7 +228,7 @@ public class RabbitMQFirehoseFactory implements FirehoseFactory<StringInputRowPa
           return null;
         }
 
-        return stringParser.parse(new String(delivery.getBody()));
+        return stringParser.parse(new String(delivery.getBody(), Charsets.UTF_8));
       }
 
       @Override
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/io/druid/client/CacheUtil.java b/server/src/main/java/io/druid/client/CacheUtil.java
index cbc03f64474..15bd1dc29db 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/io/druid/client/CacheUtil.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/io/druid/client/CacheUtil.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package io.druid.client;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Throwables;
 import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
 import io.druid.client.cache.Cache;
@@ -39,7 +40,7 @@ public class CacheUtil
   )
   {
     final Interval segmentQueryInterval = descriptor.getInterval();
-    final byte[] versionBytes = descriptor.getVersion().getBytes();
+    final byte[] versionBytes = descriptor.getVersion().getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
 
     return new Cache.NamedKey(
         segmentIdentifier, ByteBuffer
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/io/druid/initialization/Initialization.java b/server/src/main/java/io/druid/initialization/Initialization.java
index 3cb26432d28..800f76e0c10 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/io/druid/initialization/Initialization.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/io/druid/initialization/Initialization.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package io.druid.initialization;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Throwables;
 import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
 import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ import org.eclipse.aether.util.filter.DependencyFilterUtils;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
@@ -294,13 +296,17 @@ public class Initialization
 
                 }
               }
-          )
+          , false, Charsets.UTF_8.name())
       );
       return new DefaultTeslaAether(
           config.getLocalRepository(),
           remoteRepositories.toArray(new Repository[remoteRepositories.size()])
       );
     }
+    catch(UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
+      // should never happen
+      throw new IllegalStateException(e);
+    }
     finally {
       System.setOut(oldOut);
     }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/io/druid/server/log/FileRequestLogger.java b/server/src/main/java/io/druid/server/log/FileRequestLogger.java
index ba69f58fc8e..e993f357648 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/io/druid/server/log/FileRequestLogger.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/io/druid/server/log/FileRequestLogger.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package io.druid.server.log;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.base.Throwables;
 import com.metamx.common.concurrent.ScheduledExecutors;
 import com.metamx.common.guava.CloseQuietly;
@@ -31,8 +32,9 @@ import org.joda.time.Duration;
 import org.joda.time.MutableDateTime;
 
 import java.io.File;
-import java.io.FileWriter;
+import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
 import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
 
@@ -47,7 +49,7 @@ public class FileRequestLogger implements RequestLogger
   private final Object lock = new Object();
 
   private volatile DateTime currentDay;
-  private volatile FileWriter fileWriter;
+  private volatile OutputStreamWriter fileWriter;
 
   public FileRequestLogger(ObjectMapper objectMapper, ScheduledExecutorService exec, File baseDir)
   {
@@ -66,7 +68,10 @@ public class FileRequestLogger implements RequestLogger
       mutableDateTime.setMillisOfDay(0);
       currentDay = mutableDateTime.toDateTime();
 
-      fileWriter = new FileWriter(new File(baseDir, currentDay.toString("yyyy-MM-dd'.log'")), true);
+      fileWriter = new OutputStreamWriter(
+          new FileOutputStream(new File(baseDir, currentDay.toString("yyyy-MM-dd'.log'")), true),
+          Charsets.UTF_8
+      );
       long nextDay = currentDay.plusDays(1).getMillis();
       Duration delay = new Duration(nextDay - new DateTime().getMillis());
 
@@ -84,7 +89,10 @@ public class FileRequestLogger implements RequestLogger
               try {
                 synchronized (lock) {
                   CloseQuietly.close(fileWriter);
-                  fileWriter = new FileWriter(new File(baseDir, currentDay.toString()), true);
+                  fileWriter = new OutputStreamWriter(
+                      new FileOutputStream(new File(baseDir, currentDay.toString()), true),
+                      Charsets.UTF_8
+                  );
                 }
               }
               catch (Exception e) {
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/io/druid/server/sql/SQLRunner.java b/server/src/main/java/io/druid/server/sql/SQLRunner.java
index 68a00bccc30..ca16426721f 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/io/druid/server/sql/SQLRunner.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/io/druid/server/sql/SQLRunner.java
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ public class SQLRunner
     final URLConnection urlConnection = url.openConnection();
     urlConnection.addRequestProperty("content-type", "application/json");
     urlConnection.getOutputStream().write(queryStr.getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8));
-    BufferedReader stdInput = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(urlConnection.getInputStream()));
+    BufferedReader stdInput = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(urlConnection.getInputStream(), Charsets.UTF_8));
 
     Object res = objectMapper.readValue(stdInput, typeRef);