diff --git a/openerp/tests/test_html_sanitize.py b/openerp/tests/test_html_sanitize.py
index 85001996ee1..90ccc88cc1d 100755
--- a/openerp/tests/test_html_sanitize.py
+++ b/openerp/tests/test_html_sanitize.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 import unittest
 from openerp.tools.html_sanitize import html_sanitize
 
@@ -28,6 +29,9 @@ class TestSanitizer(unittest.TestCase):
     
     def test_test_case(self):
         html_sanitize(test_case)
+        
+    def test_crm(self):
+        html_sanitize("Merci à l'intérêt pour notre produit.nous vous contacterons bientôt. Merci")
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/openerp/tools/html_sanitize.py b/openerp/tools/html_sanitize.py
index e8896774dc1..5164ceb276e 100644
--- a/openerp/tools/html_sanitize.py
+++ b/openerp/tools/html_sanitize.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ def html_sanitize(x):
     if not x:
         return x
     root = pq("<div />")
+    if type(x) == str:
+        x = unicode(x, "utf8", "replace")
     root.html(x)
     result = handle_element(root[0])
     new = pq(result)