diff --git a/log.c b/log.c
index d9c2d136c..98a2370f6 100644
--- a/log.c
+++ b/log.c
@@ -62,7 +62,12 @@ static void *log_handler_ctx;
 
 extern char *__progname;
 
+#ifdef WINDOWS
+#define LOG_SYSLOG_VIS	(VIS_CSTYLE|VIS_NL|VIS_TAB|VIS_OCTAL|VIS_LOG_UTF16)
+#else
 #define LOG_SYSLOG_VIS	(VIS_CSTYLE|VIS_NL|VIS_TAB|VIS_OCTAL)
+#endif
+
 #define LOG_STDERR_VIS	(VIS_SAFE|VIS_OCTAL)
 
 /* textual representation of log-facilities/levels */
diff --git a/openbsd-compat/vis.c b/openbsd-compat/vis.c
index 0e04ed025..40cb0a80f 100644
--- a/openbsd-compat/vis.c
+++ b/openbsd-compat/vis.c
@@ -114,6 +114,16 @@ vis(char *dst, int c, int flag, int nextc)
 			goto done;
 		}
 	}
+
+#ifdef WINDOWS
+	/*Avoid encoding UTF-16 chatacters so they 
+	  show up correctly in the logs*/
+	if (flag & VIS_LOG_UTF16) {
+		*dst++ = c;
+		goto done;
+	}
+#endif 
+
 	if (((c & 0177) == ' ') || (flag & VIS_OCTAL) ||
 	    ((flag & VIS_GLOB) && (c == '*' || c == '?' || c == '[' || c == '#'))) {
 		*dst++ = '\\';
diff --git a/openbsd-compat/vis.h b/openbsd-compat/vis.h
index 2cdfd364b..7c4d9b043 100644
--- a/openbsd-compat/vis.h
+++ b/openbsd-compat/vis.h
@@ -81,6 +81,13 @@
  */
 #define	UNVIS_END	1	/* no more characters */
 
+#ifdef WINDOWS
+/*
+ * UTF16 logs
+ */
+#define VIS_LOG_UTF16	0x800
+#endif
+
 char	*vis(char *, int, int, int);
 int	strvis(char *, const char *, int);
 int	stravis(char **, const char *, int);