diff --git a/src/PhpWord/Shared/Text.php b/src/PhpWord/Shared/Text.php
index 667d67ab4a..d07329c33c 100644
--- a/src/PhpWord/Shared/Text.php
+++ b/src/PhpWord/Shared/Text.php
@@ -145,7 +145,8 @@ public static function isUTF8($value = '')
     public static function toUTF8($value = '')
     {
         if (null !== $value && !self::isUTF8($value)) {
-            $value = utf8_encode($value);
+            $encoding = mb_detect_encoding($value,'UTF-8');
+            $value = mb_convert_encoding($value,'UTF-8',($encoding===false) ? null : (string)$encoding);
         }
 
         return $value;
diff --git a/src/PhpWord/TemplateProcessor.php b/src/PhpWord/TemplateProcessor.php
index 6ef22fc538..a6141e8f66 100644
--- a/src/PhpWord/TemplateProcessor.php
+++ b/src/PhpWord/TemplateProcessor.php
@@ -257,7 +257,8 @@ protected static function ensureMacroCompleted($macro)
     protected static function ensureUtf8Encoded($subject)
     {
         if (!Text::isUTF8($subject) && null !== $subject) {
-            $subject = utf8_encode($subject);
+            $encoding = mb_detect_encoding($subject,'UTF-8');
+            $subject = mb_convert_encoding($subject,'UTF-8',($encoding===false) ? null : (string)$encoding);
         }
 
         return (null !== $subject) ? $subject : '';