diff --git a/lib/connection.js b/lib/connection.js
index c1a120df..2f90af74 100644
--- a/lib/connection.js
+++ b/lib/connection.js
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ Connection.prototype.startup = function(config) {
     .addCString(config.user)
     .addCString('database')
     .addCString(config.database)
-    .addCString('options')
-    .addCString("--client_encoding='utf-8'")
+    .addCString('client_encoding')
+    .addCString("'utf-8'")
     .addCString('').flush();
   //this message is sent without a code
 
diff --git a/test/unit/connection/outbound-sending-tests.js b/test/unit/connection/outbound-sending-tests.js
index 2679dfda..2d5c0a04 100644
--- a/test/unit/connection/outbound-sending-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/connection/outbound-sending-tests.js
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ test("sends startup message", function() {
                   .addCString('brian')
                   .addCString('database')
                   .addCString('bang')
-                  .addCString('options')
-                  .addCString("--client_encoding='utf-8'")
+                  .addCString('client_encoding')
+                  .addCString("'utf-8'")
                   .addCString('').join(true))
 });