diff --git a/mssql-scripter b/mssql-scripter
index e7b9c26..8774054 100644
--- a/mssql-scripter
+++ b/mssql-scripter
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ while [ -h "$SOURCE" ]; do # resolve $SOURCE until the file is no longer a symli
 done
 DIR="$( cd -P "$( dirname "$SOURCE" )" && pwd )"
 
+# Set the python io encoding to UTF-8 by default if not set.
+if [ -z ${PYTHONIOENCODING+x} ]; then export PYTHONIOENCODING=utf8; fi
+
 export PYTHONPATH="${DIR}:${PYTHONPATH}"
 
 python -m mssqlscripter "$@"
diff --git a/mssql-scripter.bat b/mssql-scripter.bat
index ad40c04..20df872 100644
--- a/mssql-scripter.bat
+++ b/mssql-scripter.bat
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 @echo off
 setlocal
-
+REM Set the python io encoding to UTF-8 by default if not set.
+IF "%PYTHONIOENCODING%"=="" (
+    SET PYTHONIOENCODING="UTF-8"
+)
 SET PYTHONPATH=%~dp0;%PYTHONPATH%
 python -m mssqlscripter %*
 
diff --git a/mssqlscripter/main.py b/mssqlscripter/main.py
index 5c01858..558e46c 100644
--- a/mssqlscripter/main.py
+++ b/mssqlscripter/main.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(u'mssqlscripter.main')
 def main(args):
     """
         Main entry point to mssql-scripter.
-
     """
     scripterlogging.initialize_logger()
     logger.info('Python Information :{}'.format(sys.version_info))
@@ -96,13 +95,6 @@ def main(args):
         if temp_file_path:
             with io.open(parameters.FilePath, encoding=u'utf-16') as script_file:
                 for line in script_file.readlines():
-                    # If piping, stdout encoding is none in python 2 which resolves to 'ascii'.
-                    # If it is not none then the user has specified a custom
-                    # encoding.
-                    if not sys.stdout.encoding:
-                        # We are piping and the user is using the default encoding,
-                        # so encode to utf8.
-                        line = line.encode(u'utf-8')
                     sys.stdout.write(line)
 
     finally: