diff --git a/gdal/frmts/ecw/ecwcreatecopy.cpp b/gdal/frmts/ecw/ecwcreatecopy.cpp
index 40a075ac13e5..0cc873968fd4 100644
--- a/gdal/frmts/ecw/ecwcreatecopy.cpp
+++ b/gdal/frmts/ecw/ecwcreatecopy.cpp
@@ -993,7 +993,7 @@ CPLErr GDALECWCompressor::Initialize(
             return CE_Failure;
         }
 
-        m_OStream.Access( fpVSIL, TRUE, (BOOLEAN) bSeekable, pszFilename, 
+        m_OStream.Access( fpVSIL, TRUE, (BOOLEAN) bSeekable, pszFilename,
 			  0, -1 );
     }    
 
@@ -1069,9 +1069,25 @@ CPLErr GDALECWCompressor::Initialize(
     if( oError.GetErrorNumber() == NCS_SUCCESS )
     {
         if( fpVSIL == NULL )
-            oError = Open( (char *) pszFilename, false, true );
+		{
+#if ECWSDK_VERSION>=40		
+            if( CSLTestBoolean( CPLGetConfigOption( "GDAL_FILENAME_IS_UTF8", "YES" ) ) )
+            {
+                wchar_t *pwszFilename = CPLRecodeToWChar( pszFilename, CPL_ENC_UTF8, CPL_ENC_UCS2 );
+
+                oError = Open( pwszFilename, false, true );
+                CPLFree( pwszFilename );
+            }
+            else
+#endif//ECWSDK_VERSION>=40			
+			{
+				oError = Open( (char *) pszFilename, false, true );
+			}
+		}
         else
+		{
             oError = CNCSJP2FileView::Open( &(m_OStream) );
+		}
     }
 
     if( oError.GetErrorNumber() == NCS_SUCCESS )
diff --git a/gdal/frmts/ecw/ecwdataset.cpp b/gdal/frmts/ecw/ecwdataset.cpp
index f1f0f150b149..b87b68d92ad3 100644
--- a/gdal/frmts/ecw/ecwdataset.cpp
+++ b/gdal/frmts/ecw/ecwdataset.cpp
@@ -2388,7 +2388,19 @@ CNCSJP2FileView *ECWDataset::OpenFileView( const char *pszDatasetName,
     //we always open in read only mode. This should be improved in the future.
     try
     {
-        oErr = poFileView->Open( (char *) pszDatasetName, bProgressive, false );
+#if ECWSDK_VERSION>=40    
+        if( CSLTestBoolean( CPLGetConfigOption( "GDAL_FILENAME_IS_UTF8", "YES" ) ) )
+        {
+            wchar_t *pwszDatasetName = CPLRecodeToWChar( pszDatasetName, CPL_ENC_UTF8, CPL_ENC_UCS2 );
+
+            oErr = poFileView->Open( pwszDatasetName, bProgressive, false );
+            CPLFree( pwszDatasetName );
+        }
+        else
+#endif //#if ECWSDK_VERSION>=40        
+        {
+            oErr = poFileView->Open( (char *) pszDatasetName, bProgressive, false );
+        }
     }
     catch(...)
     {
diff --git a/gdal/frmts/ecw/gdal_ecw.h b/gdal/frmts/ecw/gdal_ecw.h
index 99c3b18582de..18acedc0921d 100644
--- a/gdal/frmts/ecw/gdal_ecw.h
+++ b/gdal/frmts/ecw/gdal_ecw.h
@@ -266,8 +266,21 @@ class VSIIOStream : public CNCSJPCIOStream
             }
             CPLDebug( "ECW", "Using filename '%s' for temporary directory determination purposes.", osFilenameUsed.c_str() );
         }
-        return(CNCSJPCIOStream::Open((char *)osFilenameUsed.c_str(), 
-                                     (bool) bWrite));
+#if ECWSDK_VERSION>=40
+        if( CSLTestBoolean( CPLGetConfigOption( "GDAL_FILENAME_IS_UTF8", "YES" ) ) )
+        {
+            wchar_t		*pwszFilename = CPLRecodeToWChar( pszFilename, CPL_ENC_UTF8, CPL_ENC_UCS2 );
+            CNCSError	oError;
+            oError = CNCSJPCIOStream::Open( pwszFilename, (bool) bWrite );
+            CPLFree( pwszFilename );
+            return oError;
+        }
+        else
+#endif//ECWSDK_VERSION>=40		
+        {
+            return(CNCSJPCIOStream::Open((char *)osFilenameUsed.c_str(),
+                                         (bool) bWrite));
+        }
     }
 
     virtual bool NCS_FASTCALL Seek() {