diff --git a/src/authentic2/manager/user_views.py b/src/authentic2/manager/user_views.py
index 3e223f54a..fdaaf98f2 100644
--- a/src/authentic2/manager/user_views.py
+++ b/src/authentic2/manager/user_views.py
@@ -842,6 +842,9 @@ class UserImportView(MediaMixin, PermissionMixin, TemplateView):
         self.user_import = UserImport(uuid)
         if not self.user_import.exists():
             raise Http404
+        if self.user_import.encoding == 'utf-8':
+            with self.user_import.meta_update as meta:
+                meta['encoding'] = 'utf-8-sig'
         return super(UserImportView, self).dispatch(request, uuid, **kwargs)
 
     def get(self, request, uuid, filename=None):
diff --git a/tests/test_user_manager.py b/tests/test_user_manager.py
index 8d259c24d..09372bb4c 100644
--- a/tests/test_user_manager.py
+++ b/tests/test_user_manager.py
@@ -584,6 +584,37 @@ x,x,x,x'''.encode(
     app.get('/manage/users/import/%s/%s/' % (_import.uuid, execute.uuid), status=403)
 
 
+def test_user_import_legacy_encoding(transactional_db, app, admin, ou1, admin_ou1):
+    response = login(app, admin, '/manage/users/')
+    response = response.click('Import users')
+    response.form.set(
+        'import_file',
+        Upload(
+            'users.csv',
+            '''email key verified,first_name,last_name,phone
+tnoel@entrouvert.com,Thomas,Noël,1234
+fpeters@entrouvert.com,Frédéric,Péters,5678
+john.doe@entrouvert.com,John,Doe,9101112
+x,x,x,x'''.encode(
+                'utf-8'
+            ),
+            'application/octet-stream',
+        ),
+    )
+    response.form.set('encoding', 'utf-8-sig')
+    response.form.set('ou', str(get_default_ou().pk))
+    response = response.form.submit()
+
+    imports = [i for i in user_import.UserImport.all()]
+    # oops, utf-8 used to be supported. now it's utf-8-sig but imports may have
+    # been created with utf-8 encoding and not executed yet
+    with imports[0].meta_update as meta:
+        meta['encoding'] = 'utf-8'  # not supported anymore
+
+    response = response.follow()
+    response = response.forms['action-form'].submit(name='simulate')
+
+
 def test_su_permission(app, admin, simple_user):
     resp = login(app, admin, '/manage/users/%s/' % simple_user.pk)
     assert len(resp.pyquery('button[name="su"]')) == 0