diff --git a/mod/assign/submission/onlinetext/locallib.php b/mod/assign/submission/onlinetext/locallib.php
index 627c6a1c2a7..e83ccaf05e6 100644
--- a/mod/assign/submission/onlinetext/locallib.php
+++ b/mod/assign/submission/onlinetext/locallib.php
@@ -393,7 +393,8 @@ class assign_submission_onlinetext extends assign_submission_plugin {
             $formattedtext = format_text($finaltext,
                                          $onlinetextsubmission->onlineformat,
                                          array('context'=>$this->assignment->get_context()));
-            $submissioncontent = '<html><body>'. $formattedtext . '</body></html>';
+            $head = '<head><meta charset="UTF-8"></head>';
+            $submissioncontent = '<!DOCTYPE html><html>' . $head . '<body>'. $formattedtext . '</body></html>';
 
             $filename = get_string('onlinetextfilename', 'assignsubmission_onlinetext');
             $files[$filename] = array($submissioncontent);