diff --git a/Doctrine/DBAL/Driver/PDODblib/Driver.php b/Doctrine/DBAL/Driver/PDODblib/Driver.php
index f484886..3bf599f 100644
--- a/Doctrine/DBAL/Driver/PDODblib/Driver.php
+++ b/Doctrine/DBAL/Driver/PDODblib/Driver.php
@@ -56,6 +56,11 @@ private function _constructPdoDsn(array $params) {
         if (isset($params['dbname'])) {
             $dsn .= ';dbname=' . $params['dbname'];
         }
+
+        if (isset($params['charset'])) {
+            $dsn .= ';charset=' . $params['charset'];
+        }
+
         return $dsn;
     }