diff --git a/spring-boot-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/test/json/BasicJsonTester.java b/spring-boot-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/test/json/BasicJsonTester.java
index ef8a1118f22..6efb110bc7b 100644
--- a/spring-boot-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/test/json/BasicJsonTester.java
+++ b/spring-boot-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/test/json/BasicJsonTester.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package org.springframework.boot.test.json;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 
 import org.springframework.core.ResolvableType;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.Assert;
  * See {@link AbstractJsonMarshalTester} for more details.
  *
  * @author Phillip Webb
+ * @author Andy Wilkinson
  * @since 1.4.0
  */
 public class BasicJsonTester {
@@ -55,23 +57,47 @@ public class BasicJsonTester {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Create a new {@link BasicJsonTester} instance.
+	 * Create a new {@link BasicJsonTester} instance that will load resources as UTF-8.
 	 * @param resourceLoadClass the source class used to load resources
 	 */
 	public BasicJsonTester(Class<?> resourceLoadClass) {
+		this(resourceLoadClass, null);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Create a new {@link BasicJsonTester} instance.
+	 * @param resourceLoadClass the source class used to load resources
+	 * @param charset the charset used to load resources
+	 * @since 1.4.1
+	 */
+	public BasicJsonTester(Class<?> resourceLoadClass, Charset charset) {
 		Assert.notNull(resourceLoadClass, "ResourceLoadClass must not be null");
-		this.loader = new JsonLoader(resourceLoadClass);
+		this.loader = new JsonLoader(resourceLoadClass, charset);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Initialize the marshal tester for use, configuring it to load JSON resources as
+	 * UTF-8.
+	 * @param resourceLoadClass the source class used when loading relative classpath
+	 * resources
+	 * @param type the type under test
+	 */
+	protected final void initialize(Class<?> resourceLoadClass, ResolvableType type) {
+		this.initialize(resourceLoadClass, null, type);
 	}
 
 	/**
 	 * Initialize the marshal tester for use.
 	 * @param resourceLoadClass the source class used when loading relative classpath
 	 * resources
+	 * @param charset the charset used when loading relative classpath resources
 	 * @param type the type under test
+	 * @since 1.4.1
 	 */
-	protected final void initialize(Class<?> resourceLoadClass, ResolvableType type) {
+	protected final void initialize(Class<?> resourceLoadClass, Charset charset,
+			ResolvableType type) {
 		if (this.loader == null) {
-			this.loader = new JsonLoader(resourceLoadClass);
+			this.loader = new JsonLoader(resourceLoadClass, charset);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-boot-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/test/json/JsonContentAssert.java b/spring-boot-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/test/json/JsonContentAssert.java
index a91f5fdb7dc..6a1703f035c 100644
--- a/spring-boot-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/test/json/JsonContentAssert.java
+++ b/spring-boot-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/test/json/JsonContentAssert.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package org.springframework.boot.test.json;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  * AssertJ {@link Assert} for {@link JsonContent}.
  *
  * @author Phillip Webb
+ * @author Andy Wilkinson
  * @since 1.4.0
  */
 public class JsonContentAssert extends AbstractAssert<JsonContentAssert, CharSequence> {
@@ -51,13 +53,26 @@ public class JsonContentAssert extends AbstractAssert<JsonContentAssert, CharSeq
 	private final JsonLoader loader;
 
 	/**
-	 * Create a new {@link JsonContentAssert} instance.
+	 * Create a new {@link JsonContentAssert} instance that will load resources as UTF-8.
 	 * @param resourceLoadClass the source class used to load resources
 	 * @param json the actual JSON content
 	 */
 	public JsonContentAssert(Class<?> resourceLoadClass, CharSequence json) {
+		this(resourceLoadClass, null, json);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Create a new {@link JsonContentAssert} instance that will load resources in the
+	 * given {@code charset}.
+	 * @param resourceLoadClass the source class used to load resources
+	 * @param charset the charset of the JSON resources
+	 * @param json the actual JSON content
+	 * @since 1.4.1
+	 */
+	public JsonContentAssert(Class<?> resourceLoadClass, Charset charset,
+			CharSequence json) {
 		super(json, JsonContentAssert.class);
-		this.loader = new JsonLoader(resourceLoadClass);
+		this.loader = new JsonLoader(resourceLoadClass, charset);
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/spring-boot-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/test/json/JsonLoader.java b/spring-boot-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/test/json/JsonLoader.java
index 60808a17603..0e2711b220e 100644
--- a/spring-boot-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/test/json/JsonLoader.java
+++ b/spring-boot-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/test/json/JsonLoader.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 
 import org.springframework.core.io.ClassPathResource;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
@@ -31,20 +32,24 @@ import org.springframework.util.FileCopyUtils;
  * Internal helper used to load JSON from various sources.
  *
  * @author Phillip Webb
+ * @author Andy Wilkinson
  */
 class JsonLoader {
 
 	private final Class<?> resourceLoadClass;
 
-	JsonLoader(Class<?> resourceLoadClass) {
+	private final Charset charset;
+
+	JsonLoader(Class<?> resourceLoadClass, Charset charset) {
 		this.resourceLoadClass = resourceLoadClass;
+		this.charset = charset == null ? Charset.forName("UTF-8") : charset;
 	}
 
-	public Class<?> getResourceLoadClass() {
+	Class<?> getResourceLoadClass() {
 		return this.resourceLoadClass;
 	}
 
-	public String getJson(CharSequence source) {
+	String getJson(CharSequence source) {
 		if (source == null) {
 			return null;
 		}
@@ -55,15 +60,15 @@ class JsonLoader {
 		return source.toString();
 	}
 
-	public String getJson(String path, Class<?> resourceLoadClass) {
+	String getJson(String path, Class<?> resourceLoadClass) {
 		return getJson(new ClassPathResource(path, resourceLoadClass));
 	}
 
-	public String getJson(byte[] source) {
+	String getJson(byte[] source) {
 		return getJson(new ByteArrayInputStream(source));
 	}
 
-	public String getJson(File source) {
+	String getJson(File source) {
 		try {
 			return getJson(new FileInputStream(source));
 		}
@@ -72,7 +77,7 @@ class JsonLoader {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public String getJson(Resource source) {
+	String getJson(Resource source) {
 		try {
 			return getJson(source.getInputStream());
 		}
@@ -81,9 +86,10 @@ class JsonLoader {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public String getJson(InputStream source) {
+	String getJson(InputStream source) {
 		try {
-			return FileCopyUtils.copyToString(new InputStreamReader(source));
+			return FileCopyUtils
+					.copyToString(new InputStreamReader(source, this.charset));
 		}
 		catch (IOException ex) {
 			throw new IllegalStateException("Unable to load JSON from InputStream", ex);