diff --git a/src/osgPlugins/dxf/dxfEntity.cpp b/src/osgPlugins/dxf/dxfEntity.cpp
index edb27034e..062974ac6 100644
--- a/src/osgPlugins/dxf/dxfEntity.cpp
+++ b/src/osgPlugins/dxf/dxfEntity.cpp
@@ -910,10 +910,10 @@ dxfText::drawScene(scene* sc)
     sc->ocs(m);
 
     ref_ptr<osgText::Text> _text = new osgText::Text;
-    _text->setText(_string);
+    _text->setText(_string, encoding);
+    _text->setFont(font);
 
     _text->setCharacterSize( _height, 1.0/_xscale );
-    _text->setFont("arial.ttf");
 
     Quat qr( DegreesToRadians(_rotation), Z_AXIS );
 
diff --git a/src/osgPlugins/dxf/dxfEntity.h b/src/osgPlugins/dxf/dxfEntity.h
index 071f42b45..ee553cb3d 100644
--- a/src/osgPlugins/dxf/dxfEntity.h
+++ b/src/osgPlugins/dxf/dxfEntity.h
@@ -293,6 +293,8 @@ class dxfText : public dxfBasicEntity
 {
 public:
     dxfText() :
+        encoding(osgText::String::ENCODING_ASCII),
+        font("arial.ttf"),
         _string(""),
         _point1(0,0,0),
         _point2(0,0,0),
@@ -310,6 +312,10 @@ public:
     virtual void                   assign(dxfFile* dxf, codeValue& cv);
     virtual void                   drawScene(scene* sc);
 
+    // application settings
+    osgText::String::Encoding encoding;
+    std::string font;
+
 protected:
     std::string       _string;    // 1
     osg::Vec3d        _point1;    // 10,20,30