diff --git a/pandas/tests/test_format.py b/pandas/tests/test_format.py
index 4f77da10ac257..cb92f85cad0aa 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/test_format.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/test_format.py
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ def test_to_string_repr_unicode(self):
         line_len = len(rs[0])
         for line in rs[1:]:
             try:
-                line = line.decode('utf-8')
+                line = line.decode(get_option("display.encoding"))
             except:
                 pass
             self.assert_(len(line) == line_len)