diff --git a/lib/connection-parameters.js b/lib/connection-parameters.js
index 84fa5fdc..9f44c8e9 100644
--- a/lib/connection-parameters.js
+++ b/lib/connection-parameters.js
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ var ConnectionParameters = function(config) {
   this.password = val('password', config);
   this.binary = val('binary', config);
   this.ssl = config.ssl || defaults.ssl;
-  this.client_encoding = config.client_encoding || defaults.client_encoding;
+  this.client_encoding = val("client_encoding", config);
   //a domain socket begins with '/'
   this.isDomainSocket = (!(this.host||'').indexOf('/'));
 };