diff --git a/cfg-mplayer.h b/cfg-mplayer.h
index b9e133f887..96b1e3c9c4 100644
--- a/cfg-mplayer.h
+++ b/cfg-mplayer.h
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ extern char *lirc_configfile;
 extern char *vo_geometry;
 extern int stop_xscreensaver;
 
-extern char *mp_msg_charset;
 extern int mp_msg_color;
 extern int mp_msg_module;
 
@@ -365,9 +364,6 @@ const m_option_t common_opts[] = {
         {"msglevel", (void *) msgl_config, CONF_TYPE_SUBCONFIG, CONF_GLOBAL, 0, 0, NULL},
     {"msgcolor", &mp_msg_color, CONF_TYPE_FLAG, CONF_GLOBAL, 0, 1, NULL},
     {"msgmodule", &mp_msg_module, CONF_TYPE_FLAG, CONF_GLOBAL, 0, 1, NULL},
-#ifdef CONFIG_ICONV
-    {"msgcharset", &mp_msg_charset, CONF_TYPE_STRING, CONF_GLOBAL, 0, 0, NULL},
-#endif
 #ifdef CONFIG_PRIORITY
     {"priority", &proc_priority, CONF_TYPE_STRING, 0, 0, 0, NULL},
 #endif
diff --git a/command.c b/command.c
index 9a696348da..d90d3ee76b 100644
--- a/command.c
+++ b/command.c
@@ -2738,8 +2738,7 @@ static void remove_subtitle_range(MPContext *mpctx, int start, int count)
             filename = ass_tracks[idx]->name;
 #endif
         mp_msg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_STATUS,
-               "SUB: Removed subtitle file (%d): %s\n", idx + 1,
-               filename_recode(filename));
+               "SUB: Removed subtitle file (%d): %s\n", idx + 1, filename);
         sub_free(subd);
         subs[idx] = NULL;
 #ifdef CONFIG_ASS
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 0b7d3690f7..2fdab8cb63 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -292,7 +292,6 @@ Optional features:
   --enable-termcap       use termcap database for key codes [autodetect]
   --enable-termios       use termios database for key codes [autodetect]
   --disable-iconv        disable iconv for encoding conversion [autodetect]
-  --disable-langinfo     do not use langinfo [autodetect]
   --enable-lirc          enable LIRC (remote control) support [autodetect]
   --enable-lircc         enable LIRCCD (LIRC client daemon) input [autodetect]
   --enable-joystick      enable joystick support [disable]
@@ -394,7 +393,6 @@ Audio output:
 
 Language options:
   --enable-translation   enable support for translated output [disable]
-  --charset=charset      convert the console messages to this character set
   --language-doc=lang    language to use for the documentation [en]
   --language-man=lang    language to use for the man pages [en]
   --language-msg=lang    extra languages for program messages [all]
@@ -475,7 +473,6 @@ _caca=auto
 _dvb=auto
 _v4l2=auto
 _iconv=auto
-_langinfo=auto
 _ossaudio=auto
 _rsound=auto
 _pulse=auto
@@ -537,7 +534,6 @@ _directfb=auto
 #language=en
 _shm=auto
 _translation=no
-_charset="UTF-8"
 _libdv=auto
 _cdda=auto
 _cddb=auto
@@ -635,9 +631,6 @@ for ac_option do
   --windres=*)
     _windres=$(echo $ac_option | cut -d '=' -f 2)
     ;;
-  --charset=*)
-    _charset=$(echo $ac_option | cut -d '=' -f 2)
-    ;;
   --language-doc=*)
     language_doc=$(echo $ac_option | cut -d '=' -f 2)
     ;;
@@ -716,8 +709,6 @@ for ac_option do
   --disable-v4l2)       _v4l2=no        ;;
   --enable-iconv)       _iconv=yes      ;;
   --disable-iconv)      _iconv=no       ;;
-  --enable-langinfo)    _langinfo=yes   ;;
-  --disable-langinfo)   _langinfo=no    ;;
   --enable-libdv)       _libdv=yes      ;;
   --disable-libdv)      _libdv=no       ;;
   --enable-ossaudio)    _ossaudio=yes   ;;
@@ -1388,19 +1379,6 @@ else
 fi
 
 
-echocheck "langinfo"
-if test "$_langinfo" = auto ; then
-  _langinfo=no
-  statement_check langinfo.h 'nl_langinfo(CODESET)' && _langinfo=yes
-fi
-if test "$_langinfo" = yes ; then
-  def_langinfo='#define HAVE_LANGINFO 1'
-else
-  def_langinfo='#undef HAVE_LANGINFO'
-fi
-echores "$_langinfo"
-
-
 echocheck "translation support"
 if test "$_translation" = yes; then
   def_translation="#define CONFIG_TRANSLATION 1"
@@ -3939,13 +3917,6 @@ fi
 echores "$_sortsub"
 
 
-if test "$_charset" != "noconv" ; then
-  def_charset="#define MSG_CHARSET \"$_charset\""
-else
-  def_charset="#undef MSG_CHARSET"
-  _charset="UTF-8"
-fi
-
 #############################################################################
 
 echocheck "compiler support for noexecstack"
@@ -4087,7 +4058,6 @@ export LC_ALL = C
 
 CONFIGURATION = $configuration
 
-CHARSET = $_charset
 DOC_LANGS = $language_doc
 DOC_LANG_ALL = $doc_lang_all
 MAN_LANGS = $language_man
@@ -4334,7 +4304,6 @@ $def_winsock2_h
 $def_gethostbyname2
 $def_gettimeofday
 $def_glob
-$def_langinfo
 $def_lrintf
 $def_nanosleep
 $def_posix_select
@@ -4366,7 +4335,6 @@ $def_restrict_keyword
 
 
 /* configurable options */
-$def_charset
 $def_debug
 $def_sortsub
 $def_stream_cache
diff --git a/mp_msg.c b/mp_msg.c
index 6ad39a0416..d9c28688a4 100644
--- a/mp_msg.c
+++ b/mp_msg.c
@@ -30,11 +30,6 @@
 #include <libintl.h>
 #endif
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_ICONV
-#include <iconv.h>
-#include <errno.h>
-#endif
-
 #include "mp_msg.h"
 
 /* maximum message length of mp_msg */
@@ -66,42 +61,6 @@ int mp_msg_level_all = MSGL_STATUS;
 int verbose = 0;
 int mp_msg_color = 0;
 int mp_msg_module = 0;
-#ifdef CONFIG_ICONV
-char *mp_msg_charset = NULL;
-static char *old_charset = NULL;
-static iconv_t msgiconv;
-#endif
-
-const char* filename_recode(const char* filename)
-{
-#if !defined(CONFIG_ICONV) || !defined(MSG_CHARSET)
-    return filename;
-#else
-    static iconv_t inv_msgiconv = (iconv_t)(-1);
-    static char recoded_filename[MSGSIZE_MAX];
-    size_t filename_len, max_path;
-    char* precoded;
-    if (!mp_msg_charset ||
-        !strcasecmp(mp_msg_charset, MSG_CHARSET) ||
-        !strcasecmp(mp_msg_charset, "noconv"))
-        return filename;
-    if (inv_msgiconv == (iconv_t)(-1)) {
-        inv_msgiconv = iconv_open(MSG_CHARSET, mp_msg_charset);
-        if (inv_msgiconv == (iconv_t)(-1))
-            return filename;
-    }
-    filename_len = strlen(filename);
-    max_path = MSGSIZE_MAX - 4;
-    precoded = recoded_filename;
-    if (iconv(inv_msgiconv, (char **)&filename, &filename_len,
-              &precoded, &max_path) == (size_t)(-1) && errno == E2BIG) {
-        precoded[0] = precoded[1] = precoded[2] = '.';
-        precoded += 3;
-    }
-    *precoded = '\0';
-    return recoded_filename;
-#endif
-}
 
 void mp_msg_init(void){
 #ifdef _WIN32
@@ -120,15 +79,6 @@ void mp_msg_init(void){
         verbose = atoi(env);
     for(i=0;i<MSGT_MAX;i++) mp_msg_levels[i] = -2;
     mp_msg_levels[MSGT_IDENTIFY] = -1; // no -identify output by default
-#ifdef CONFIG_ICONV
-    mp_msg_charset = getenv("MPLAYER_CHARSET");
-    if (!mp_msg_charset)
-#ifdef _WIN32
-        mp_msg_charset = "UTF-8";
-#else
-        mp_msg_charset = get_term_charset();
-#endif
-#endif
 #ifdef CONFIG_TRANSLATION
     textdomain("mplayer");
     char *localedir = getenv("MPLAYER_LOCALEDIR");
@@ -254,47 +204,6 @@ void mp_msg_va(int mod, int lev, const char *format, va_list va)
     tmp[MSGSIZE_MAX-2] = '\n';
     tmp[MSGSIZE_MAX-1] = 0;
 
-#if defined(CONFIG_ICONV) && defined(MSG_CHARSET)
-    if (mp_msg_charset && strcasecmp(mp_msg_charset, "noconv"))
-    {
-        char tmp2[MSGSIZE_MAX];
-        size_t inlen = strlen(tmp), outlen = MSGSIZE_MAX;
-        char *in = tmp, *out = tmp2;
-        if (!old_charset || strcmp(old_charset, mp_msg_charset))
-        {
-            if (old_charset)
-            {
-                free(old_charset);
-                iconv_close(msgiconv);
-            }
-            msgiconv = iconv_open(mp_msg_charset, MSG_CHARSET);
-            old_charset = strdup(mp_msg_charset);
-        }
-
-        if (msgiconv == (iconv_t)(-1))
-        {
-            fprintf(stderr,"iconv: conversion from %s to %s unsupported\n"
-                ,MSG_CHARSET,mp_msg_charset);
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            memset(tmp2, 0, MSGSIZE_MAX);
-
-            while (iconv(msgiconv, &in, &inlen, &out, &outlen) == -1)
-            {
-                if (!inlen || !outlen)
-                break;
-                *out++ = *in++;
-                outlen--; inlen--;
-            }
-
-            strncpy(tmp, tmp2, MSGSIZE_MAX);
-            tmp[MSGSIZE_MAX-1] = 0;
-            tmp[MSGSIZE_MAX-2] = '\n';
-        }
-    }
-#endif
-
     /* A status line is normally intended to be overwritten by the next
      * status line, and does not end with a '\n'. If we're printing a normal
      * line instead after the status one print '\n' to change line. */
diff --git a/mp_msg.h b/mp_msg.h
index 3edd9aba8f..5d7a0ce4f0 100644
--- a/mp_msg.h
+++ b/mp_msg.h
@@ -140,6 +140,4 @@ void mp_msg(int mod, int lev, const char *format, ... ) PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(3, 4);
 void mp_tmsg(int mod, int lev, const char *format, ... ) PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(3, 4);
 #define mp_dbg mp_msg
 
-const char* filename_recode(const char* filename);
-
 #endif /* MPLAYER_MP_MSG_H */
diff --git a/mplayer.c b/mplayer.c
index 6fb2f92c19..9cb0b40ecd 100644
--- a/mplayer.c
+++ b/mplayer.c
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ static void print_file_properties(struct MPContext *mpctx, const char *filename)
     double start_pts = MP_NOPTS_VALUE;
     double video_start_pts = MP_NOPTS_VALUE;
     mp_msg(MSGT_IDENTIFY, MSGL_INFO, "ID_FILENAME=%s\n",
-           filename_recode(filename));
+           filename);
     mp_msg(MSGT_IDENTIFY, MSGL_INFO, "ID_DEMUXER=%s\n",
            mpctx->demuxer->desc->name);
     if (mpctx->sh_video) {
@@ -968,7 +968,7 @@ void add_subtitles(struct MPContext *mpctx, char *filename, float fps,
 
     if (!asst && !subd) {
         mp_tmsg(MSGT_CPLAYER, noerr ? MSGL_WARN : MSGL_ERR,
-                "Cannot load subtitles: %s\n", filename_recode(filename));
+                "Cannot load subtitles: %s\n", filename);
         return;
     }
 
@@ -977,11 +977,10 @@ void add_subtitles(struct MPContext *mpctx, char *filename, float fps,
     mpctx->track_was_native_ass[mpctx->set_of_sub_size] = is_native_ass;
     mp_msg(MSGT_IDENTIFY, MSGL_INFO,
            "ID_FILE_SUB_ID=%d\n", mpctx->set_of_sub_size);
-    mp_msg(MSGT_IDENTIFY, MSGL_INFO, "ID_FILE_SUB_FILENAME=%s\n",
-           filename_recode(filename));
+    mp_msg(MSGT_IDENTIFY, MSGL_INFO, "ID_FILE_SUB_FILENAME=%s\n", filename);
     ++mpctx->set_of_sub_size;
     mp_tmsg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_INFO, "SUB: Added subtitle file (%d): %s\n",
-            mpctx->set_of_sub_size, filename_recode(filename));
+            mpctx->set_of_sub_size, filename);
 }
 
 void init_vo_spudec(struct MPContext *mpctx)
@@ -3862,8 +3861,7 @@ play_next_file:
         vo_control(mpctx->video_out, VOCTRL_RESUME, NULL);
 
     if (mpctx->filename) {
-        mp_tmsg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_INFO, "Playing %s.\n",
-                filename_recode(mpctx->filename));
+        mp_tmsg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_INFO, "Playing %s.\n", mpctx->filename);
         if (use_filename_title && opts->vo_wintitle == NULL)
             opts->vo_wintitle = talloc_strdup(NULL,
                                               mp_basename(mpctx->filename));
@@ -3875,7 +3873,7 @@ play_next_file:
         if ((edl_fd = fopen(edl_output_filename, "w")) == NULL) {
             mp_tmsg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_ERR,
                     "Can't open EDL file [%s] for writing.\n",
-                    filename_recode(edl_output_filename));
+                    edl_output_filename);
         }
     }
 
@@ -3885,7 +3883,7 @@ play_next_file:
         vo_vobsub = vobsub_open(opts->vobsub_name, spudec_ifo, 1, &vo_spudec);
         if (vo_vobsub == NULL)
             mp_tmsg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_ERR, "Cannot load subtitles: %s\n",
-                    filename_recode(opts->vobsub_name));
+                    opts->vobsub_name);
     } else if (opts->sub_auto && mpctx->filename) {
         char **vob = find_vob_subtitles(opts, mpctx->filename);
         for (int i = 0; i < MP_TALLOC_ELEMS(vob); i++) {
@@ -3932,7 +3930,7 @@ play_next_file:
         play_tree_t *entry;
         // Handle playlist
         mp_msg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_V, "Parsing playlist %s...\n",
-               filename_recode(mpctx->filename));
+               mpctx->filename);
         entry = parse_playtree(mpctx->stream, mpctx->mconfig, 0);
         mpctx->eof = playtree_add_playlist(mpctx, entry);
         goto goto_next_file;
@@ -3997,7 +3995,7 @@ goto_enable_cache:
             const char *bname;
 
             mp_msg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_V, "Adding file %s to element entry.\n",
-                   filename_recode(playlist_entry));
+                   playlist_entry);
 
             bname = mp_basename(playlist_entry);
             if ((strlen(bname) > 10) && !strncmp(bname, "qt", 2) &&
@@ -4072,7 +4070,7 @@ goto_enable_cache:
         mp_msg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_V, "Source files:\n");
         for (int i = 0; i < mpctx->num_sources; i++)
             mp_msg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_V, "%d: %s\n", i,
-                   filename_recode(mpctx->sources[i].demuxer->filename));
+                   mpctx->sources[i].demuxer->filename);
         mp_msg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_V, "Timeline parts: (number, start, "
                "source_start, source):\n");
         for (int i = 0; i < part_count; i++) {
diff --git a/osdep/getch2-win.c b/osdep/getch2-win.c
index f1ccea6359..de886182c9 100644
--- a/osdep/getch2-win.c
+++ b/osdep/getch2-win.c
@@ -183,43 +183,3 @@ void getch2_disable(void)
     if(!getch2_status) return; // already disabled / never enabled
     getch2_status=0;
 }
-
-#ifdef CONFIG_ICONV
-static const struct {
-    unsigned cp;
-    char* alias;
-} cp_alias[] = {
-    { 20127, "ASCII" },
-    { 20866, "KOI8-R" },
-    { 21866, "KOI8-RU" },
-    { 28591, "ISO-8859-1" },
-    { 28592, "ISO-8859-2" },
-    { 28593, "ISO-8859-3" },
-    { 28594, "ISO-8859-4" },
-    { 28595, "ISO-8859-5" },
-    { 28596, "ISO-8859-6" },
-    { 28597, "ISO-8859-7" },
-    { 28598, "ISO-8859-8" },
-    { 28599, "ISO-8859-9" },
-    { 28605, "ISO-8859-15" },
-    { 65001, "UTF-8" },
-    { 0, NULL }
-};
-
-char* get_term_charset(void)
-{
-    char codepage[10];
-    unsigned i, cpno = GetConsoleOutputCP();
-    if (!cpno)
-        cpno = GetACP();
-    if (!cpno)
-        return NULL;
-
-    for (i = 0; cp_alias[i].cp; i++)
-        if (cpno == cp_alias[i].cp)
-            return strdup(cp_alias[i].alias);
-
-    snprintf(codepage, sizeof(codepage), "CP%u", cpno);
-    return strdup(codepage);
-}
-#endif
diff --git a/osdep/getch2.c b/osdep/getch2.c
index f0aa19a2cc..cd8a198737 100644
--- a/osdep/getch2.c
+++ b/osdep/getch2.c
@@ -50,11 +50,6 @@
 #endif
 #endif
 
-#if defined(HAVE_LANGINFO) && defined(CONFIG_ICONV)
-#include <locale.h>
-#include <langinfo.h>
-#endif
-
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 
@@ -325,16 +320,3 @@ void getch2_disable(void){
     tcsetattr(0,TCSANOW,&tio_orig);
 #endif
 }
-
-#ifdef CONFIG_ICONV
-char* get_term_charset(void)
-{
-    char* charset = NULL;
-#ifdef HAVE_LANGINFO
-    setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "");
-    charset = strdup(nl_langinfo(CODESET));
-    setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "C");
-#endif
-    return charset;
-}
-#endif
diff --git a/osdep/getch2.h b/osdep/getch2.h
index 4442f1181d..85899b3ce3 100644
--- a/osdep/getch2.h
+++ b/osdep/getch2.h
@@ -49,17 +49,6 @@ void getch2_disable(void);
 struct mp_fifo;
 bool getch2(struct mp_fifo *fifo);
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_ICONV
-/**
- * \brief gets the name of the system's terminal character set
- * \return a malloced string indicating the system charset
- *
- * Be warned that this function on many systems is in no way thread-safe
- * since it modifies global data
- */
-char *get_term_charset(void);
-#endif
-
 #if defined(__MINGW32__)
 // slave cmd function for Windows
 int mp_input_slave_cmd_func(int fd,char* dest,int size);
diff --git a/timeline/tl_matroska.c b/timeline/tl_matroska.c
index 562b1bda1f..15067644a5 100644
--- a/timeline/tl_matroska.c
+++ b/timeline/tl_matroska.c
@@ -135,8 +135,7 @@ static int find_ordered_chapter_sources(struct MPContext *mpctx,
 
     int num_left = num_sources - 1;
     for (int i = 0; i < num_filenames && num_left > 0; i++) {
-        mp_msg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_INFO, "Checking file %s\n",
-               filename_recode(filenames[i]));
+        mp_msg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_INFO, "Checking file %s\n", filenames[i]);
         int format = 0;
         struct stream *s = open_stream(filenames[i], &mpctx->opts, &format);
         if (!s)
@@ -157,7 +156,7 @@ static int find_ordered_chapter_sources(struct MPContext *mpctx,
                     continue;
                 if (!memcmp(uid_map[i], d->matroska_data.segment_uid, 16)) {
                     mp_msg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_INFO,"Match for source %d: %s\n",
-                           i, filename_recode(d->filename));
+                           i, d->filename);
                     sources[i].stream = s;
                     sources[i].demuxer = d;
                     num_left--;