diff --git a/__init__.py b/__init__.py
index 8a84135..f2582e8 100644
--- a/__init__.py
+++ b/__init__.py
@@ -11,10 +11,11 @@ import tempfile
 import unittest
 
 class Storage:
-	def __init__(self, rootpath, files, piecelen):
+	def __init__(self, rootpath, files, piecelen, encoding='us-ascii'):
 		self._rootpath = pathlib.Path(rootpath)
 		self._files = files
 		self._piecelen = piecelen
+		self._encoding = encoding
 
 		self._buildindex()
 
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ class Storage:
 				try:
 					curfile = next(files)
 					fname = pathlib.Path(
-					    *(x.decode('us-ascii') for x in
+					    *(x.decode(self._encoding) for x in
 					    curfile['path']))
 					curfilepath = self._rootpath / fname
 				except StopIteration:
@@ -61,11 +62,14 @@ def validate(torrent, basedir):
 
 	basedir = pathlib.Path(basedir)
 
-	print(repr(torrent))
+	try:
+		encoding = torrent['encoding'].decode('us-ascii')
+	except KeyError:
+		encoding = 'us-ascii'
 
-	torrentdir = basedir / info['name'].decode('us-ascii')
+	torrentdir = basedir / info['name'].decode(encoding)
 
-	stor = Storage(torrentdir, info['files'], info['piece length'])
+	stor = Storage(torrentdir, info['files'], info['piece length'], encoding)
 
 	pieces = info['pieces']
 	for num, i in enumerate(pieces[x:x+20] for x in range(0, len(pieces),
@@ -124,6 +128,21 @@ class _TestCases(unittest.TestCase):
 
 		validate(self.torrent, self.basetempdir)
 
+		# encoded names
+
+		sd = self.basetempdir / 'thai'
+		sd.mkdir()
+
+		self.make_files(sd, { 'thai - สวัสดี.txt': b'hello\n'
+		})
+
+		tor = importlib.resources.files(__name__)
+		tor = tor / 'fixtures' / 'thai.torrent'
+		with tor.open('rb') as fp:
+			torrent = bencode.bdecode(fp.read())
+
+		validate(torrent, self.basetempdir)
+
 	def test_verification(self):
 		# Testing for "missing" files
 		# piece size 2 (aka 4 bytes)