diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.lfs.test/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF b/org.eclipse.jgit.lfs.test/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
index 02bc6855f..b988e1306 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.lfs.test/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.lfs.test/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Bundle-Vendor: %provider_name
 Bundle-Localization: plugin
 Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: JavaSE-1.8
 Import-Package: org.eclipse.jgit.junit;version="[4.6.0,4.7.0)",
+ org.eclipse.jgit.lfs;version="[4.6.0,4.7.0)",
  org.eclipse.jgit.lfs.errors;version="[4.6.0,4.7.0)",
  org.eclipse.jgit.lfs.lib;version="[4.6.0,4.7.0)",
  org.eclipse.jgit.lib;version="[4.6.0,4.7.0)",
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.lfs.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/lfs/lib/LFSPointerTest.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.lfs.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/lfs/lib/LFSPointerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4827d3d11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.lfs.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/lfs/lib/LFSPointerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2016, Christian Halstrick <christian.halstrick@sap.com>
+ * and other copyright owners as documented in the project's IP log.
+ *
+ * This program and the accompanying materials are made available
+ * under the terms of the Eclipse Distribution License v1.0 which
+ * accompanies this distribution, is reproduced below, and is
+ * available at http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/edl-v10.php
+ *
+ * All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or
+ * without modification, are permitted provided that the following
+ * conditions are met:
+ *
+ * - Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+ *   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+ *
+ * - Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+ *   copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+ *   disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
+ *   with the distribution.
+ *
+ * - Neither the name of the Eclipse Foundation, Inc. nor the
+ *   names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote
+ *   products derived from this software without specific prior
+ *   written permission.
+ *
+ * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND
+ * CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
+ * INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
+ * OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
+ * ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR
+ * CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+ * SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
+ * NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
+ * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
+ * CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
+ * STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
+ * ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF
+ * ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+ */
+
+package org.eclipse.jgit.lfs.lib;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lfs.LfsPointer;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/*
+ * Test LfsPointer file abstraction
+ */
+public class LFSPointerTest {
+	@Test
+	public void testEncoding() throws IOException {
+		final String s = "27e15b72937fc8f558da24ac3d50ec20302a4cf21e33b87ae8e4ce90e89c4b10";
+		AnyLongObjectId id = LongObjectId.fromString(s);
+		LfsPointer ptr = new LfsPointer(id, 4);
+		ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+		ptr.encode(baos);
+		baos.close();
+		assertEquals("version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1\noid sha256:"
+				+ s + "\nsize 4\n",
+				baos.toString(StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name()));
+	}
+}
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.lfs/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lfs/LfsPointer.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.lfs/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lfs/LfsPointer.java
index c0cf2337b..bbea53567 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.lfs/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lfs/LfsPointer.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.lfs/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lfs/LfsPointer.java
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.InputStreamReader;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.nio.charset.UnsupportedCharsetException;
 
 import org.eclipse.jgit.annotations.Nullable;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lfs.lib.AnyLongObjectId;
@@ -109,13 +112,18 @@ public class LfsPointer {
 	 *            written
 	 */
 	public void encode(OutputStream out) {
-		try (PrintStream ps = new PrintStream(out)) {
+		try (PrintStream ps = new PrintStream(out, false,
+				StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name())) {
 			ps.print("version "); //$NON-NLS-1$
-			ps.println(VERSION);
+			ps.print(VERSION + "\n"); //$NON-NLS-1$
 			ps.print("oid " + HASH_FUNCTION_NAME + ":"); //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
-			ps.println(oid.name());
+			ps.print(oid.name() + "\n"); //$NON-NLS-1$
 			ps.print("size "); //$NON-NLS-1$
-			ps.println(size);
+			ps.print(size + "\n"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+		} catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
+			// should not happen, we are using a standard charset
+			throw new UnsupportedCharsetException(
+					StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name());
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -137,7 +145,7 @@ public class LfsPointer {
 		long sz = -1;
 
 		try (BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(
-				new InputStreamReader(in))) {
+				new InputStreamReader(in, StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name()))) {
 			for (String s = br.readLine(); s != null; s = br.readLine()) {
 				if (s.startsWith("#") || s.length() == 0) { //$NON-NLS-1$
 					continue;