diff --git a/hledger/hledger.m4.md b/hledger/hledger.m4.md
index fabed60ce..e8858cd76 100644
--- a/hledger/hledger.m4.md
+++ b/hledger/hledger.m4.md
@@ -676,6 +676,9 @@ Some notes about the various output formats:
 
 - HTML output can be styled by an optional `hledger.css` file in the same directory.
 
+- HTML output will be UTF-8 encoded. If your web browser is showing junk characters,
+  you may need to change its text encoding to UTF-8. Eg in Safari, see View -> Text Encoding.
+
 ### JSON output
 
 - This is not yet much used; real-world feedback is welcome.