diff --git a/includes/common.inc b/includes/common.inc
index 7d0bf85..fb1e6ec 100644
--- a/includes/common.inc
+++ b/includes/common.inc
@@ -126,8 +126,7 @@ function drupal_set_html_head($data = NULL) {
  * Retrieve output to be displayed in the head tag of the HTML page.
  */
 function drupal_get_html_head() {
-  $output = "<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n";
-  return $output . drupal_set_html_head();
+  return drupal_set_html_head();
 }
 
 /**
@@ -167,9 +166,21 @@ function drupal_get_headers() {
  * Make any final alterations to the rendered xhtml.
  */
 function drupal_final_markup($content) {
+  // Check if any http-equiv="Content-Type" values have been assigned already,
+  // allowing for different output types (specifically non-utf-8).
+  $matches = array();
+  preg_match('/(<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"([^>]*)>)/', $content, $matches);
+  $meta_content = 'content="text/html; charset=utf-8"';
+
+  // If found, remove all existing http-equiv="Content-Type" lines.
+  if (count($matches) == 3) {
+    $meta_content = trim(preg_replace('/\/$/', '', $matches[2]));
+    $content = preg_replace('/<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"[^>]*>/', '', $content);
+  }
+
   // Make sure that the charset is always specified as the first element of the
   // head region to prevent encoding-based attacks.
-  return preg_replace('/<head[^>]*>/i', "\$0\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />", $content, 1);
+  return preg_replace('/<head[^>]*>/i', "\$0\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" {$meta_content} />", $content, 1);
 }
 
 /**