diff --git a/includes/common.inc b/includes/common.inc
index a469d1f001c6..2e2cf12d7521 100644
--- a/includes/common.inc
+++ b/includes/common.inc
@@ -1312,7 +1312,7 @@ include_once "includes/file.inc";
 set_error_handler("error_handler");
 
 // spit out the correct charset http header
-header("Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8");
+drupal_set_header("Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8");
 
 // initialize the _GET["q"] prior to loading the modules and invoking their 'init' hook:
 if (!empty($_GET["q"])) {