diff --git a/Jamfile b/Jamfile
index e194a3a71..b0e34a217 100755
--- a/Jamfile
+++ b/Jamfile
@@ -120,6 +120,11 @@ rule linking ( properties * )
 		result += <library>librt ;
 	}
 
+	if <iconv>on in $(properties)
+	{
+		result += <library>libiconv ;
+	}
+
 	if <tcmalloc>yes in $(properties)
 	{
 		result += <library>tcmalloc ;
@@ -233,6 +238,10 @@ feature need-librt : no yes : composite propagated link-incompatible ;
 feature fiemap : off on : composite propagated ;
 feature.compose <fiemap>on : <define>HAVE_LINUX_FIEMAP_H ;
 
+feature iconv : auto on off : composite propagated ;
+feature.compose <iconv>on : <define>TORRENT_USE_ICONV=1 ;
+feature.compose <iconv>off : <define>TORRENT_USE_ICONV=0 ;
+
 feature full-stats : on off : composite propagated link-incompatible ;
 feature.compose <full-stats>off : <define>TORRENT_DISABLE_FULL_STATS ;
 
@@ -328,6 +337,9 @@ lib gdi32 : : <name>gdi32 ;
 # required for networking on beos
 lib netkit : : <name>net <search>/boot/system/lib <link>shared ;
 
+# when using iconv
+lib libiconv : : <name>iconv <link>shared ;
+
 local boost-library-search-path =
   <search>/opt/local/lib
   <search>/usr/lib
diff --git a/docs/building.rst b/docs/building.rst
index 3e0fe3e96..1bfc10cad 100644
--- a/docs/building.rst
+++ b/docs/building.rst
@@ -357,6 +357,12 @@ Build features:
 |                          | * ``off`` - only collects the standard stats for   |
 |                          |   upload and download rate.                        |
 +--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------+
+| ``iconv``                | * ``auto`` - use iconv for string conversions for  |
+|                          |   linux and mingw and other posix platforms.       |
+|                          | * ``on`` - force use of iconv                      |
+|                          | * ``off`` - force not using iconv (disables locale |
+|                          |   awareness except on windows).                    |
++--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------+
 
 .. _MaxMind: http://www.maxmind.com/app/api
 
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/config.hpp b/include/libtorrent/config.hpp
index 725566bc7..0c69543e7 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/config.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/config.hpp
@@ -121,7 +121,9 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 // (disables some float-dependent APIs)
 #define TORRENT_NO_FPU 1
 #define TORRENT_USE_I2P 0
+#ifndef TORRENT_USE_ICONV
 #define TORRENT_USE_ICONV 0
+#endif
 
 // ==== Darwin/BSD ===
 #elif (defined __APPLE__ && defined __MACH__) || defined __FreeBSD__ || defined __NetBSD__ \
@@ -131,8 +133,10 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 // we don't need iconv on mac, because
 // the locale is always utf-8
 #if defined __APPLE__
+#ifndef TORRENT_USE_ICONV
 #define TORRENT_USE_ICONV 0
 #endif
+#endif
 #define TORRENT_HAS_FALLOCATE 0
 
 // ==== LINUX ===
@@ -143,7 +147,9 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #elif defined __MINGW32__
 #define TORRENT_MINGW
 #define TORRENT_WINDOWS
+#ifndef TORRENT_USE_ICONV
 #define TORRENT_USE_ICONV 1
+#endif
 #define TORRENT_USE_RLIMIT 0
 
 // ==== WINDOWS ===
@@ -152,7 +158,9 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 // windows has its own functions to convert
 // apple uses utf-8 as its locale, so no conversion
 // is necessary
+#ifndef TORRENT_USE_ICONV
 #define TORRENT_USE_ICONV 0
+#endif
 #define TORRENT_USE_RLIMIT 0
 #define TORRENT_HAS_FALLOCATE 0
 
@@ -167,7 +175,9 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #include <storage/StorageDefs.h> // B_PATH_NAME_LENGTH
 #define TORRENT_HAS_FALLOCATE 0
 #define TORRENT_USE_MLOCK 0
+#ifndef TORRENT_USE_ICONV
 #define TORRENT_USE_ICONV 0
+#endif
 #if __GNUCC__ == 2
 # if defined(TORRENT_BUILDING_SHARED)
 #  define TORRENT_EXPORT __declspec(dllexport)
diff --git a/src/escape_string.cpp b/src/escape_string.cpp
index b2c1376ce..c80598334 100644
--- a/src/escape_string.cpp
+++ b/src/escape_string.cpp
@@ -620,13 +620,8 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		ret.resize(outsize);
 		char const* in = s.c_str();
 		char* out = &ret[0];
-#ifdef TORRENT_LINUX
-// linux (and posix) seems to have a weird iconv signature
-#define ICONV_IN_CAST (char**)
-#else
-#define ICONV_IN_CAST
-#endif
-		size_t retval = iconv(h, ICONV_IN_CAST &in, &insize,
+		// posix has a weird iconv signature
+		size_t retval = iconv(h, (char**)&in, &insize,
 			&out, &outsize);
 		if (retval == (size_t)-1) return s;
 		// if this string has an invalid utf-8 sequence in it, don't touch it