diff --git a/deluge/common.py b/deluge/common.py
index c32238f3c..1fd2c652c 100644
--- a/deluge/common.py
+++ b/deluge/common.py
@@ -718,3 +718,27 @@ class VersionSplit(object):
         v1 = [self.version, self.suffix or 'z', self.dev]
         v2 = [ver.version, ver.suffix or 'z', ver.dev]
         return cmp(v1, v2)
+
+def win32_unicode_argv():
+    """ Gets sys.argv as list of unicode objects on any platform."""
+    if windows_check():
+        # Versions 2.x of Python don't support Unicode in sys.argv on Windows, with the
+        # underlying Windows API instead replacing multi-byte characters with '?'.
+        from ctypes import POINTER, byref, cdll, c_int, windll
+        from ctypes.wintypes import LPCWSTR, LPWSTR
+
+        get_cmd_linew = cdll.kernel32.GetCommandLineW
+        get_cmd_linew.argtypes = []
+        get_cmd_linew.restype = LPCWSTR
+
+        cmdline_to_argvw = windll.shell32.CommandLineToArgvW
+        cmdline_to_argvw.argtypes = [LPCWSTR, POINTER(c_int)]
+        cmdline_to_argvw.restype = POINTER(LPWSTR)
+
+        cmd = get_cmd_linew()
+        argc = c_int(0)
+        argv = cmdline_to_argvw(cmd, byref(argc))
+        if argc.value > 0:
+            # Remove Python executable and commands if present
+            start = argc.value - len(sys.argv)
+            return [argv[i] for i in xrange(start, argc.value)]
diff --git a/deluge/main.py b/deluge/main.py
index f8953d2a1..01744f4c3 100644
--- a/deluge/main.py
+++ b/deluge/main.py
@@ -86,7 +86,10 @@ def start_ui():
         help="Sets the log level to 'none', this is the same as `-L none`", action="store_true", default=False)
 
     # Get the options and args from the OptionParser
-    (options, args) = parser.parse_args()
+    if deluge.common.windows_check():
+        (options, args) = parser.parse_args(deluge.common.win32_unicode_argv()[1:])
+    else:
+        (options, args) = parser.parse_args()
 
     # Setup the logger
     if options.quiet:
diff --git a/deluge/ui/gtkui/ipcinterface.py b/deluge/ui/gtkui/ipcinterface.py
index 03c281c48..f10345314 100644
--- a/deluge/ui/gtkui/ipcinterface.py
+++ b/deluge/ui/gtkui/ipcinterface.py
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ def process_args(args):
             log.debug("Attempting to add file (%s) from external source...", arg)
             if urlparse(arg).scheme == "file":
                 arg = url2pathname(urlparse(arg).path)
-            path = os.path.abspath(arg)
+            path = os.path.abspath(deluge.common.decode_string(arg))
 
             if not os.path.exists(path):
                 log.error("No such file: %s", path)
diff --git a/deluge/ui/ui.py b/deluge/ui/ui.py
index 2662543e8..17f08f613 100644
--- a/deluge/ui/ui.py
+++ b/deluge/ui/ui.py
@@ -99,7 +99,10 @@ class _UI(object):
         return self.__args
 
     def start(self):
-        (self.__options, self.__args) = self.__parser.parse_args()
+        if deluge.common.windows_check():
+            (self.__options, self.__args) = self.__parser.parse_args(deluge.common.win32_unicode_argv()[1:])
+        else:
+            (self.__options, self.__args) = self.__parser.parse_args()
 
         if self.__options.quiet:
             self.__options.loglevel = "none"