diff --git a/src/backends/sdl/input.c b/src/backends/sdl/input.c
index 0dbbd061..0887900f 100644
--- a/src/backends/sdl/input.c
+++ b/src/backends/sdl/input.c
@@ -595,7 +595,6 @@ IN_Init(void)
 	in_relativemode = (SDL_GetRelativeMouseMode() == SDL_TRUE);
 	SDL_StartTextInput();
 #else
-	SDL_EnableUNICODE(SDL_TRUE);
 	SDL_EnableKeyRepeat(SDL_DEFAULT_REPEAT_DELAY, SDL_DEFAULT_REPEAT_INTERVAL);
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/backends/sdl/refresh.c b/src/backends/sdl/refresh.c
index b435dd68..395bad16 100644
--- a/src/backends/sdl/refresh.c
+++ b/src/backends/sdl/refresh.c
@@ -344,6 +344,7 @@ static qboolean CreateSDLWindow(int flags)
 	return true;
 #else
 	window = SDL_SetVideoMode(vid.width, vid.height, 0, flags);
+	SDL_EnableUNICODE(SDL_TRUE);
 	return window != NULL;
 #endif
 }