diff --git a/samba/samba-lib.pl b/samba/samba-lib.pl
index 873f392a8..c24472318 100755
--- a/samba/samba-lib.pl
+++ b/samba/samba-lib.pl
@@ -209,6 +209,17 @@ else {
 	}
 }
 
+# decode_unicode_string(string)
+# Decodes a string from UTF-8 if needed
+sub decode_unicode_string
+{
+my ($str) = @_;
+eval "use Encode";
+if ($@) {
+	return $str;
+	}
+return decode('utf8', $str);
+}
 
 # list_connections([share])
 # Uses the smbstatus program to return a list of connections a share. Each
diff --git a/samba/save_fshare.cgi b/samba/save_fshare.cgi
index 108b1e537..73d5f347e 100755
--- a/samba/save_fshare.cgi
+++ b/samba/save_fshare.cgi
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ if ($name ne "global") {
 	elsif ($in{'old_name'} ne $name && $exists{$name}) {
 		&error(&text('savefshare_exist', $name));
 		}
-	elsif ($name !~ /^[A-Za-z0-9_\$\-\. ]+$/) {
+	elsif (&decode_unicode_string($name) !~ /^[\p{L}\p{N}_\$\-\.\s]+$/) {
 		&error(&text('savefshare_mode', $name));
 		}
 	elsif ($name eq "global") {   # unreachable code ? EB
diff --git a/samba/save_pshare.cgi b/samba/save_pshare.cgi
index cca754dab..c7e8c438a 100755
--- a/samba/save_pshare.cgi
+++ b/samba/save_pshare.cgi
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ if ($name ne "global") {
 	elsif ($in{'old_name'} ne $name && $exists{$name}) {
 	        &error(&text('savepshare_exist', $name));
 	        }
-	elsif ($name !~ /^[\p{L}\p{N}_\$\-\.\s]+$/) {
+	elsif (&decode_unicode_string($name) !~ /^[\p{L}\p{N}_\$\-\.\s]+$/) {
 		&error(&text('savepshare_name', $name));
 		}
 	elsif ($name eq "global") {