diff --git a/tdeioslave/imap4/rfcdecoder.cc b/tdeioslave/imap4/rfcdecoder.cc
index 08b641b7..41a50ec1 100644
--- a/tdeioslave/imap4/rfcdecoder.cc
+++ b/tdeioslave/imap4/rfcdecoder.cc
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ rfcDecoder::encodeRFC2231String (const TQString & _str)
   }
   if (!*l) {
     free(latin);
-    return _str.ascii ();
+    return _str;
   }
   TQCString result;
   l = latin;