diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 462e88a7b7..eb0d51e36f 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 
+AM_CPPFLAGS = -DQT_NO_ASCII_CAST
+
 INCLUDES = $(all_includes)
 
 SUBDIRS = . pics clients
diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
index ff402cc047..d73af60c7d 100644
--- a/main.cpp
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ int x11ErrorHandler(Display *d, XErrorEvent *e){
 	 || e->request_code == X_GrabKey
 	 )
 	&& (e->error_code == BadAccess)) {
-	fprintf(stderr, i18n("kwin: it looks like there's already a window manager running.  kwin not started\n"));
+	fprintf(stderr, i18n("kwin: it looks like there's already a window manager running. kwin not started").local8Bit());
 	exit(1);
     }
 
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ int x11ErrorHandler(Display *d, XErrorEvent *e){
     fprintf(stderr, "kwin: %s(0x%lx): %s\n", req, e->resourceid, msg);
 
     if (initting) {
-        fprintf(stderr, i18n("kwin: failure during initialisation; aborting\n"));
+        fprintf(stderr, i18n("kwin: failure during initialisation; aborting").local8Bit());
         exit(1);
     }
     return 0;