diff --git a/src/irc/core/irc-servers.c b/src/irc/core/irc-servers.c
index d769fa5f..04361ad0 100644
--- a/src/irc/core/irc-servers.c
+++ b/src/irc/core/irc-servers.c
@@ -348,16 +348,21 @@ static void sig_server_quit(IRC_SERVER_REC *server, const char *msg)
 
 void irc_server_send_away(IRC_SERVER_REC *server, const char *reason)
 {
+	char *recoded = NULL;
+
 	if (!IS_IRC_SERVER(server))
 		return;
 
 	if (*reason != '\0' || server->usermode_away) {
 		g_free_and_null(server->away_reason);
-                if (*reason != '\0')
+                if (*reason != '\0') {
 			server->away_reason = g_strdup(reason);
+			reason = recoded = recode_out(SERVER(server), reason, NULL);
+		}
 
 		irc_send_cmdv(server, "AWAY :%s", reason);
 	}
+	g_free(recoded);
 }
 
 void irc_server_send_data(IRC_SERVER_REC *server, const char *data, int len)