diff --git a/dspace/modules/solr/pom.xml b/dspace/modules/solr/pom.xml
index a8ce9046c8..e2f36b0390 100644
--- a/dspace/modules/solr/pom.xml
+++ b/dspace/modules/solr/pom.xml
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@
    </description>
    <version>1.7.0-rc2-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
+   <!--Force UTF-8 encoding during build on all platforms-->
+   <properties>
+        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
+   </properties>
+
    <!--
       The Subversion repository location is used by Continuum to update
       against when changes have occured, this spawns a new build cycle