diff --git a/rtengine/safegtk.cc b/rtengine/safegtk.cc
index 0d1a1e307..d9a66bd9c 100644
--- a/rtengine/safegtk.cc
+++ b/rtengine/safegtk.cc
@@ -132,6 +132,35 @@ void safe_build_subdir_list (Glib::RefPtr<Gio::File> &dir, std::vector<Glib::ust
     }
 }
 
+/*
+ * For an unknown reason, Glib::filename_to_utf8 doesn't work on Windows, so we're using
+ * Glib::filename_to_utf8 for Linux/Apple and Glib::locale_to_utf8 for Windows
+ */
+Glib::ustring safe_filename_to_utf8 (const std::string& src)
+{
+	Glib::ustring utf8_str;
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#ifdef GLIBMM_EXCEPTIONS_ENABLED
+            try {
+                utf8_str = Glib::locale_to_utf8(src);
+            }
+            catch (const Glib::ConvertError& e) {
+                utf8_str = Glib::convert_with_fallback(src, "UTF8", "LATIN1","?");
+            }
+#else
+            {
+                std::auto_ptr<Glib::Error> error;
+                utf8_str = locale_to_utf8(src, error);
+                if (error.get())
+                    utf8_str = Glib::convert_with_fallback(src, "UTF8", "LATIN1","?", error);
+            }
+#endif //GLIBMM_EXCEPTIONS_ENABLED
+#else
+            utf8_str = Glib::filename_to_utf8(src);
+#endif
+	return utf8_str;
+}
+
 Glib::ustring safe_locale_to_utf8 (const std::string& src)
 {
 	Glib::ustring utf8_str;
diff --git a/rtengine/safegtk.h b/rtengine/safegtk.h
index 3303833f5..53b55fe7b 100644
--- a/rtengine/safegtk.h
+++ b/rtengine/safegtk.h
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ void safe_build_subdir_list (Glib::RefPtr<Gio::File> &dir, std::vector<Glib::ust
 bool safe_spawn_command_line_async (const Glib::ustring& cmd_utf8);
 bool safe_spawn_command_line_sync (const Glib::ustring& cmd_utf8);
 
+Glib::ustring safe_filename_to_utf8 (const std::string& src);
 Glib::ustring safe_locale_to_utf8 (const std::string& src); // from rtengine
 std::string safe_locale_from_utf8 (const Glib::ustring& utf8_str);
 std::string safe_filename_from_utf8 (const Glib::ustring& utf8_str);
diff --git a/rtgui/main.cc b/rtgui/main.cc
index 12ff61495..c4e16ed3b 100644
--- a/rtgui/main.cc
+++ b/rtgui/main.cc
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ int processLineParams( int argc, char **argv )
 			case 'o': // outputfile or dir
 				if( iArg+1 <argc ){
 					iArg++;
-					outputPath = safe_locale_to_utf8 (argv[iArg]);
+					outputPath = safe_filename_to_utf8 (argv[iArg]);
 					if( safe_file_test (outputPath, Glib::FILE_TEST_IS_DIR))
 						outputDirectory=true;
 				}
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ int processLineParams( int argc, char **argv )
 			case 'p': // processing parameters for all inputs
 				if( iArg+1 <argc ){
 					iArg++;
-					processingParams = safe_locale_to_utf8 ( argv[iArg] );
+					processingParams = safe_filename_to_utf8 ( argv[iArg] );
 				}
 				break;
 			case 'S':
@@ -191,11 +191,11 @@ int processLineParams( int argc, char **argv )
 			case 'c': // MUST be last option
 				while( iArg+1 <argc ){
 					iArg++;
-					if( !safe_file_test( safe_locale_to_utf8(argv[iArg]), Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS )){
+					if( !safe_file_test( safe_filename_to_utf8(argv[iArg]), Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS )){
 						std::cerr << argv[iArg] << " doesn't exist."<< std::endl;
 						continue;
 					}
-					if( safe_file_test( safe_locale_to_utf8(argv[iArg]), Glib::FILE_TEST_IS_DIR )){
+					if( safe_file_test( safe_filename_to_utf8(argv[iArg]), Glib::FILE_TEST_IS_DIR )){
 						isDirectory = true;
 						std::vector<Glib::ustring> names;
 						Glib::RefPtr<Gio::File> dir = Gio::File::create_for_path ( argv[iArg] );
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ int processLineParams( int argc, char **argv )
 							}
 						}
 					}else{
-						inputFiles.push_back( safe_locale_to_utf8 (argv[iArg]) );
+						inputFiles.push_back( safe_filename_to_utf8 (argv[iArg]) );
 					}
 				}
 				break;
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ int processLineParams( int argc, char **argv )
 				return -1;
 			}
 		}else{
-			argv1 = safe_locale_to_utf8 ( argv[iArg] );
+			argv1 = safe_filename_to_utf8 ( argv[iArg] );
 			if( outputDirectory ){
 				options.savePathFolder = outputPath;
 				options.saveUsePathTemplate = false;