diff --git a/docshell/base/nsWebShell.cpp b/docshell/base/nsWebShell.cpp
index 64c5be8773c4..7422edb1ba30 100644
--- a/docshell/base/nsWebShell.cpp
+++ b/docshell/base/nsWebShell.cpp
@@ -503,6 +503,8 @@ nsWebShell::nsWebShell()
   InitFrameData(PR_TRUE);
   mIsFrame = PR_FALSE;
 	mWebShellType = nsWebShellContent;
+  // XXX we should get such mDefaultCharacterSet from pref laster...
+  mDefaultCharacterSet = "ISO-8859-1";
 }
 
 nsWebShell::~nsWebShell()
diff --git a/webshell/src/nsWebShell.cpp b/webshell/src/nsWebShell.cpp
index 64c5be8773c4..7422edb1ba30 100644
--- a/webshell/src/nsWebShell.cpp
+++ b/webshell/src/nsWebShell.cpp
@@ -503,6 +503,8 @@ nsWebShell::nsWebShell()
   InitFrameData(PR_TRUE);
   mIsFrame = PR_FALSE;
 	mWebShellType = nsWebShellContent;
+  // XXX we should get such mDefaultCharacterSet from pref laster...
+  mDefaultCharacterSet = "ISO-8859-1";
 }
 
 nsWebShell::~nsWebShell()