diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/ChangeLog b/winsup/cygwin/ChangeLog
index 480dd7972..c69159de6 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/ChangeLog
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2013-05-24  Corinna Vinschen  <corinna@vinschen.de>
+
+	* fork.cc (frok::parent): Always set CREATE_UNICODE_ENVIRONMENT flag.
+	Explain why.
+
 2013-05-23  Corinna Vinschen  <corinna@vinschen.de>
 
 	* fork.cc (frok::parent): Call CreateProcessW with command line set
diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/fork.cc b/winsup/cygwin/fork.cc
index 837fc1f81..f7b9aa880 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/fork.cc
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/fork.cc
@@ -262,6 +262,11 @@ frok::parent (volatile char * volatile stack_here)
 
   int c_flags = GetPriorityClass (GetCurrentProcess ());
   debug_printf ("priority class %d", c_flags);
+  /* Per MSDN, this must be specified even if lpEnvironment is set to NULL,
+     otherwise UNICODE characters in the parent environment are not copied
+     correctly to the child.  Omitting it may scramble %PATH% on non-English
+     systems. */
+  c_flags |= CREATE_UNICODE_ENVIRONMENT;
 
   errmsg = NULL;
   hchild = NULL;