diff --git a/mailnews/base/resources/content/mailWidgets.xml b/mailnews/base/resources/content/mailWidgets.xml
index a11ea6308da3..e75967666c69 100644
--- a/mailnews/base/resources/content/mailWidgets.xml
+++ b/mailnews/base/resources/content/mailWidgets.xml
@@ -2065,7 +2065,10 @@
             // we'll have to do this all over again when the fetch for the preview text completes.
             if (aOutAsync.value && aUrlListener)
               return false; 
-
+            var unicodeConverter = Components.classes["@mozilla.org/intl/scriptableunicodeconverter"]
+                                  .createInstance(Components.interfaces.nsIScriptableUnicodeConverter);
+            unicodeConverter.charset = "UTF-8";                                  
+            
             var index = 0;
             var hdrParser = Components.classes["@mozilla.org/messenger/headerparser;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsIMsgHeaderParser);
             while (document.getAnonymousNodes(this)[0].childNodes.length < this.mMaxMsgHdrsInPopup && index < numMsgKeys.value)
@@ -2074,10 +2077,10 @@
               var msgHdr = msgDatabase.GetMsgHdrForKey(msgKeys.value[index++]);
               msgPopup.setAttribute('subject', msgHdr.mime2DecodedSubject);
               
-              // TO DO: worry about character set conversions
               var previewText = msgHdr.getStringProperty('preview');
-              if (previewText)
-                msgPopup.setAttribute('previewText',  previewText);
+              // convert the preview text from utf-8 to unicode          
+              if (previewText)            
+                msgPopup.setAttribute('previewText', unicodeConverter.ConvertToUnicode(previewText));
 
               var names = {};
               var emails = {};
diff --git a/mailnews/base/util/nsMsgDBFolder.cpp b/mailnews/base/util/nsMsgDBFolder.cpp
index 36650719618a..dc33c5b67e89 100644
--- a/mailnews/base/util/nsMsgDBFolder.cpp
+++ b/mailnews/base/util/nsMsgDBFolder.cpp
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@
 #include "nsLayoutCID.h"
 #include "nsIHTMLToTextSink.h"
 #include "nsIDocumentEncoder.h" 
+#include "nsMsgI18N.h"
+#include "nsIMIMEHeaderParam.h"
 #include <time.h>
 
 #define oneHour 3600000000U
@@ -5102,6 +5104,12 @@ nsresult nsMsgDBFolder::GetMsgPreviewTextFromStream(nsIMsgDBHdr *msgHdr, nsIInpu
      so look for content transfer encoding.
   */
 
+  // If we've got a header charset, we'll use that, otherwise we'll look for one in
+  // the mime parts.
+  nsXPIDLCString strCharset;
+  msgHdr->GetCharset(getter_Copies(strCharset));
+  nsAutoString charset (NS_ConvertUTF8toUTF16(strCharset.get()));
+
   PRUint32 len;
   msgHdr->GetMessageSize(&len);
   nsLineBuffer<char> *lineBuffer;
@@ -5168,11 +5176,15 @@ nsresult nsMsgDBFolder::GetMsgPreviewTextFromStream(nsIMsgDBHdr *msgHdr, nsIInpu
       if (StringBeginsWith(curLine, NS_LITERAL_CSTRING("Content-Type:"),
                           nsCaseInsensitiveCStringComparator()))
       {
+        // look for a charset in the Content-Type header line, we'll take the first one we find.
+        nsCOMPtr<nsIMIMEHeaderParam> mimehdrpar = do_GetService(NS_MIMEHEADERPARAM_CONTRACTID, &rv);
+        if (NS_SUCCEEDED(rv) && charset.IsEmpty())
+           mimehdrpar->GetParameter(curLine, "charset", EmptyCString(), false, nsnull, charset);
         if (FindInReadable(NS_LITERAL_CSTRING("text/html"), curLine,
           nsCaseInsensitiveCStringComparator()))
         {
           msgBodyIsHtml = PR_TRUE;
-//           bodyFollowsHeaders = PR_TRUE;
+//        bodyFollowsHeaders = PR_TRUE;
         }
         else if (FindInReadable(NS_LITERAL_CSTRING("text/plain"), curLine,
                                 nsCaseInsensitiveCStringComparator()))
@@ -5185,6 +5197,11 @@ nsresult nsMsgDBFolder::GetMsgPreviewTextFromStream(nsIMsgDBHdr *msgHdr, nsIInpu
       }
     }
   }
+
+  // Note: in order to convert from a specific charset to UTF-8 we have to go through unicode first.
+  nsAutoString unicodeMsgBodyStr;
+  ConvertToUnicode(NS_ConvertUTF16toUTF8(charset).get(), msgBody, unicodeMsgBodyStr);
+
   // now we've got a msg body. If it's html, convert it to plain text.
   // Then, set the previewProperty on the msg hdr to the plain text.
   if (msgBodyIsHtml)
@@ -5211,12 +5228,14 @@ nsresult nsMsgDBFolder::GetMsgPreviewTextFromStream(nsIMsgDBHdr *msgHdr, nsIInpu
     parser->SetContentSink(sink);
 
     nsAutoString msgBodyStr;
-    // need to do an appropriate conversion here.
-    msgBodyStr.AssignWithConversion(msgBody);
-    rv = parser->Parse(msgBodyStr, 0, NS_LITERAL_CSTRING("text/html"), PR_TRUE);
-    CopyUTF16toUTF8(bodyText, msgBody);
+    rv = parser->Parse(unicodeMsgBodyStr, 0, NS_LITERAL_CSTRING("text/html"), PR_TRUE);
+    // push bodyText back into unicodeMsgBodyStr
+    unicodeMsgBodyStr.Assign(bodyText);
   }
 
+  // now convert back to utf-8 for storage
+  CopyUTF16toUTF8(unicodeMsgBodyStr, msgBody);
+
   // replaces all tabs and line returns with a space, then trims off leading and trailing white space
   msgBody.CompressWhitespace(PR_TRUE, PR_TRUE);
   msgHdr->SetStringProperty("preview", msgBody.get());