diff --git a/src/common/dcc.c b/src/common/dcc.c
index 65f52322..881bcf78 100644
--- a/src/common/dcc.c
+++ b/src/common/dcc.c
@@ -487,7 +487,7 @@ dcc_write_chat (char *nick, char *text)
 	if (dcc && dcc->dccstat == STAT_ACTIVE)
 	{
 		len = strlen (text);
-		tcp_send_real (NULL, dcc->sok, dcc->serv->encoding, text, len);
+		tcp_send_real (NULL, dcc->sok, dcc->serv->write_converter, text, len);
 		send (dcc->sok, "\n", 1, 0);
 		dcc->size += len;
 		fe_dcc_update (dcc);
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ dcc_chat_line (struct DCC *dcc, char *line)
 	char portbuf[32];
 	message_tags_data no_tags = MESSAGE_TAGS_DATA_INIT;
 
-	line = text_invalid_encoding_to_utf8 (line, -1, dcc->serv->encoding, NULL);
+	line = text_convert_invalid (line, -1, dcc->serv->read_converter, unicode_fallback_string, NULL);
 
 	sess = find_dialog (dcc->serv, dcc->nick);
 	if (!sess)
diff --git a/src/common/hexchat.h b/src/common/hexchat.h
index 7ff4cbd4..a30a4a13 100644
--- a/src/common/hexchat.h
+++ b/src/common/hexchat.h
@@ -534,6 +534,9 @@ typedef struct server
 	time_t away_time;					/* when we were marked away */
 
 	char *encoding;
+	GIConv read_converter;  /* iconv converter for converting from server encoding to UTF-8. */
+	GIConv write_converter; /* iconv converter for converting from UTF-8 to server encoding. */
+
 	GSList *favlist;			/* list of channels & keys to join */
 
 	unsigned int motd_skipped:1;
diff --git a/src/common/plugin.c b/src/common/plugin.c
index 5ef20de8..9a1efbec 100644
--- a/src/common/plugin.c
+++ b/src/common/plugin.c
@@ -979,7 +979,7 @@ hexchat_command (hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *command)
 	}
 
 	/* scripts/plugins continue to send non-UTF8... *sigh* */
-	command_utf8 = text_invalid_encoding_to_utf8 (command, -1, "UTF-8", NULL);
+	command_utf8 = text_fixup_invalid_utf8 (command, -1, NULL);
 	handle_command (ph->context, command_utf8, FALSE);
 	g_free (command_utf8);
 }
diff --git a/src/common/server.c b/src/common/server.c
index b837fdbe..62ba9540 100644
--- a/src/common/server.c
+++ b/src/common/server.c
@@ -86,12 +86,12 @@ extern pxProxyFactory *libproxy_factory;
    send via SSL. server/dcc both use this function. */
 
 int
-tcp_send_real (void *ssl, int sok, char *encoding, char *buf, int len)
+tcp_send_real (void *ssl, int sok, GIConv write_converter, char *buf, int len)
 {
 	int ret;
 
 	gsize buf_encoded_len;
-	gchar *buf_encoded = text_invalid_utf8_to_encoding (buf, len, encoding, &buf_encoded_len);
+	gchar *buf_encoded = text_convert_invalid (buf, len, write_converter, "?", &buf_encoded_len);
 #ifdef USE_OPENSSL
 	if (!ssl)
 		ret = send (sok, buf_encoded, buf_encoded_len, 0);
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ server_send_real (server *serv, char *buf, int len)
 
 	url_check_line (buf);
 
-	return tcp_send_real (serv->ssl, serv->sok, serv->encoding, buf, len);
+	return tcp_send_real (serv->ssl, serv->sok, serv->write_converter, buf, len);
 }
 
 /* new throttling system, uses the same method as the Undernet
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ static void
 server_inline (server *serv, char *line, gssize len)
 {
 	gsize len_utf8;
-	line = text_invalid_encoding_to_utf8 (line, len, serv->encoding, &len_utf8);
+	line = text_convert_invalid (line, len, serv->read_converter, unicode_fallback_string, &len_utf8);
 
 	fe_add_rawlog (serv, line, len_utf8, FALSE);
 
@@ -1668,6 +1668,18 @@ server_set_encoding (server *serv, char *new_encoding)
 	{
 		serv->encoding = g_strdup ("UTF-8");
 	}
+
+	if (serv->read_converter != NULL)
+	{
+		g_iconv_close (serv->read_converter);
+	}
+	serv->read_converter = g_iconv_open ("UTF-8", serv->encoding);
+
+	if (serv->write_converter != NULL)
+	{
+		g_iconv_close (serv->write_converter);
+	}
+	serv->write_converter = g_iconv_open (serv->encoding, "UTF-8");
 }
 
 server *
@@ -1863,6 +1875,10 @@ server_free (server *serv)
 	g_free (serv->bad_nick_prefixes);
 	g_free (serv->last_away_reason);
 	g_free (serv->encoding);
+
+	g_iconv_close (serv->read_converter);
+	g_iconv_close (serv->write_converter);
+
 	if (serv->favlist)
 		g_slist_free_full (serv->favlist, (GDestroyNotify) servlist_favchan_free);
 #ifdef USE_OPENSSL
diff --git a/src/common/server.h b/src/common/server.h
index 211f407c..ff8ef404 100644
--- a/src/common/server.h
+++ b/src/common/server.h
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ extern GSList *serv_list;
 /* eventually need to keep the tcp_* functions isolated to server.c */
 int tcp_send_len (server *serv, char *buf, int len);
 void tcp_sendf (server *serv, const char *fmt, ...) G_GNUC_PRINTF (2, 3);
-int tcp_send_real (void *ssl, int sok, char *encoding, char *buf, int len);
+int tcp_send_real (void *ssl, int sok, GIConv write_converter, char *buf, int len);
 
 server *server_new (void);
 int is_server (server *serv);
diff --git a/src/common/text.c b/src/common/text.c
index 3f9d4441..2a8a50f7 100644
--- a/src/common/text.c
+++ b/src/common/text.c
@@ -51,6 +51,9 @@
 #include <canberra.h>
 #endif
 
+const gchar* unicode_fallback_string = "\357\277\275"; /* The Unicode replacement character 0xFFFD */
+const gchar* arbitrary_encoding_fallback_string = "?";
+
 struct pevt_stage1
 {
 	int len;
@@ -750,15 +753,15 @@ log_write (session *sess, char *text, time_t ts)
 }
 
 /**
- * Converts a given string in from_encoding to to_encoding. This is similar to g_convert_with_fallback, except that it is tolerant of sequences in
+ * Converts a given string using the given iconv converter. This is similar to g_convert_with_fallback, except that it is tolerant of sequences in
  * the original input that are invalid even in from_encoding. g_convert_with_fallback fails for such text, whereas this function replaces such a
  * sequence with the fallback string.
  *
  * If len is -1, strlen(text) is used to calculate the length. Do not pass -1 if text is supposed to contain \0 bytes, such as if from_encoding is a
  * multi-byte encoding like UTF-16.
  */
-static gchar *
-text_convert_invalid (const gchar* text, gssize len, const gchar *to_encoding, const gchar *from_encoding, const gchar *fallback, gsize *len_out)
+gchar *
+text_convert_invalid (const gchar* text, gssize len, GIConv converter, const gchar *fallback, gsize *len_out)
 {
 	gchar *result_part;
 	gsize result_part_len;
@@ -775,7 +778,7 @@ text_convert_invalid (const gchar* text, gssize len, const gchar *to_encoding, c
 	end = text + len;
 
 	/* Find the first position of an invalid sequence. */
-	result_part = g_convert (text, len, to_encoding, from_encoding, &invalid_start_pos, &result_part_len, NULL);
+	result_part = g_convert_with_iconv (text, len, converter, &invalid_start_pos, &result_part_len, NULL);
 	if (result_part != NULL)
 	{
 		/* All text converted successfully on the first try. Return it. */
@@ -798,7 +801,7 @@ text_convert_invalid (const gchar* text, gssize len, const gchar *to_encoding, c
 		g_assert (current_start + invalid_start_pos < end);
 
 		/* Convert everything before the position of the invalid sequence. It should be successful. */
-		result_part = g_convert (current_start, invalid_start_pos, to_encoding, from_encoding, &invalid_start_pos, &result_part_len, NULL);
+		result_part = g_convert_with_iconv (current_start, invalid_start_pos, converter, &invalid_start_pos, &result_part_len, NULL);
 		g_assert (result_part != NULL);
 		g_string_append_len (result, result_part, result_part_len);
 		g_free (result_part);
@@ -809,7 +812,7 @@ text_convert_invalid (const gchar* text, gssize len, const gchar *to_encoding, c
 		/* Now try converting everything after the invalid sequence. */
 		current_start += invalid_start_pos + 1;
 
-		result_part = g_convert (current_start, end - current_start, to_encoding, from_encoding, &invalid_start_pos, &result_part_len, NULL);
+		result_part = g_convert_with_iconv (current_start, end - current_start, converter, &invalid_start_pos, &result_part_len, NULL);
 		if (result_part != NULL)
 		{
 			/* The rest of the text converted successfully. Append it and return the whole converted text. */
@@ -829,16 +832,19 @@ text_convert_invalid (const gchar* text, gssize len, const gchar *to_encoding, c
 	}
 }
 
+/**
+ * Replaces any invalid UTF-8 in the given text with the unicode replacement character.
+ */
 gchar *
-text_invalid_utf8_to_encoding (const gchar* text, gssize len, const gchar *to_encoding, gsize *len_out)
+text_fixup_invalid_utf8 (const gchar* text, gssize len, gsize *len_out)
 {
-	return text_convert_invalid (text, len, to_encoding, "UTF-8", "?", len_out);
-}
+	static GIConv utf8_fixup_converter = NULL;
+	if (utf8_fixup_converter == NULL)
+	{
+		utf8_fixup_converter = g_iconv_open ("UTF-8", "UTF-8");
+	}
 
-gchar *
-text_invalid_encoding_to_utf8 (const gchar* text, gssize len, const gchar *from_encoding, gsize *len_out)
-{
-	return text_convert_invalid (text, len, "UTF-8", from_encoding, "\357\277\275", len_out);
+	return text_convert_invalid (text, len, utf8_fixup_converter, unicode_fallback_string, len_out);
 }
 
 void
@@ -858,7 +864,7 @@ PrintTextTimeStamp (session *sess, char *text, time_t timestamp)
 	}
 	else
 	{
-		text = text_invalid_encoding_to_utf8 (text, -1, "UTF-8", NULL);
+		text = text_fixup_invalid_utf8 (text, -1, NULL);
 	}
 
 	log_write (sess, text, timestamp);
diff --git a/src/common/text.h b/src/common/text.h
index 4f47815d..28fc0c0d 100644
--- a/src/common/text.h
+++ b/src/common/text.h
@@ -57,12 +57,15 @@ void text_emit (int index, session *sess, char *a, char *b, char *c, char *d,
 		time_t timestamp);
 int text_emit_by_name (char *name, session *sess, time_t timestamp,
 					   char *a, char *b, char *c, char *d);
-gchar *text_invalid_utf8_to_encoding (const gchar* text, gssize len, const gchar *to_encoding, gsize *len_out);
-gchar *text_invalid_encoding_to_utf8 (const gchar* text, gssize len, const gchar *from_encoding, gsize *len_out);
+gchar *text_convert_invalid (const gchar* text, gssize len, GIConv converter, const gchar *fallback, gsize *len_out);
+gchar *text_fixup_invalid_utf8 (const gchar* text, gssize len, gsize *len_out);
 int get_stamp_str (char *fmt, time_t tim, char **ret);
 void format_event (session *sess, int index, char **args, char *o, gsize sizeofo, unsigned int stripcolor_args);
 char *text_find_format_string (char *name);
- 
+
+extern const gchar* unicode_fallback_string;
+extern const gchar* arbitrary_encoding_fallback_string;
+
 void sound_play (const char *file, gboolean quiet);
 void sound_play_event (int i);
 void sound_beep (session *);