diff --git a/src/dinglehopper/ocrd-tool.json b/src/dinglehopper/ocrd-tool.json
index f4572c7..d9b3f1f 100644
--- a/src/dinglehopper/ocrd-tool.json
+++ b/src/dinglehopper/ocrd-tool.json
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@
           "enum": ["region", "line"],
           "default": "region",
           "description": "PAGE XML hierarchy level to extract the text from"
+        },
+        "plain_encoding": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "default": "autodetect",
+          "description": "Encoding (e.g. \"utf-8\") of plain text files"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/src/dinglehopper/ocrd_cli.py b/src/dinglehopper/ocrd_cli.py
index 4da4960..2023e03 100644
--- a/src/dinglehopper/ocrd_cli.py
+++ b/src/dinglehopper/ocrd_cli.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ class OcrdDinglehopperEvaluate(Processor):
 
         metrics = self.parameter["metrics"]
         textequiv_level = self.parameter["textequiv_level"]
+        plain_encoding = self.parameter["plain_encoding"]
         gt_grp, ocr_grp = self.input_file_grp.split(",")
 
         input_file_tuples = self.zip_input_files(on_error="abort")
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ class OcrdDinglehopperEvaluate(Processor):
                 report_prefix,
                 metrics=metrics,
                 textequiv_level=textequiv_level,
+                plain_encoding=plain_encoding,
             )
 
             # Add reports to the workspace