diff --git a/debexpo/controllers/sponsor.py b/debexpo/controllers/sponsor.py
index 88fff629f3ce78bb3f0d772baf0d92e814be2ef1..cffae857e1ea323f42f6636faab7708386ee44c6 100644
--- a/debexpo/controllers/sponsor.py
+++ b/debexpo/controllers/sponsor.py
@@ -327,7 +327,8 @@ class SponsorController(BaseController):
         # This is a workaround for Thunderbird and some other clients
         # not handling properly '+' in the mailto body parameter.
         c.mailbody = render('/sponsor/rfs_template.mako')
-        c.mailbody = urllib.quote_plus(c.mailbody).replace('+', '%20')
+        c.mailbody = urllib.quote_plus(c.mailbody.encode('utf-8')) \
+            .replace('+', '%20')
 
         return render('/sponsor/rfs_howto.mako')
 
diff --git a/debexpo/tests/importer/plugins/test_rfstemplate.py b/debexpo/tests/importer/plugins/test_rfstemplate.py
index 7915d2800649b364cab942a04076e4df208d886c..8249ca0cc4538ce285d96aec720900541bf761ba 100644
--- a/debexpo/tests/importer/plugins/test_rfstemplate.py
+++ b/debexpo/tests/importer/plugins/test_rfstemplate.py
@@ -40,6 +40,17 @@ class TestPluginRFSTemplate(TestImporterController):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         TestImporterController.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
 
+    def test_utf8_changelog(self):
+        self.import_source_package('hello-utf8-changelog')
+        self.assert_importer_succeeded()
+        self.assert_package_severity('hello', 'rfstemplate',
+                                     PLUGIN_SEVERITY_INFO)
+        self.assert_rfs_content('hello',
+                                'Subject: RFS: hello/1.0-1 -- Test package for '
+                                'debexpo')
+        self.assert_rfs_content('hello',
+                                'Severity: normal')
+
     def test_dep5_license(self):
         self.import_source_package('hello')
         self.assert_importer_succeeded()
diff --git a/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/changelog b/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/changelog
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3552cc78d5fc525e92dcc6554578e0493ddb31de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/changelog
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+hello (1.0-1) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  * This is an UTF-8 changelog entry: é,ü,Й
+  * Initial release (Closes: #0)
+
+ -- Vincent TIME <vtime@example.org>  Sun, 02 Dec 2018 22:38:11 +0100
diff --git a/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/compat b/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/compat
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ea4b992cffccf3c1676acbb911bcf71c987d0a84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/compat
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../hello/debian/compat
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/control b/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/control
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ab5561cd43ce71647585d0706262e5493a187183
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/control
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../hello/debian/control
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/copyright b/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/copyright
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..70d117c0a7d2a22aba745d38bb2ef884de985b98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/copyright
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../hello/debian/copyright
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/rules b/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/rules
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..05451293677e5a65fb8da33a389e965acbde7f10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/rules
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../hello/debian/rules
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/source b/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/source
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0f8a69b5b04e945bc653c410a407bf65b5987662
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debexpo/tests/importer/sources/hello-utf8-changelog/debian/source
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../hello/debian/source
\ No newline at end of file