Index: wp-admin/install.php
===================================================================
--- wp-admin/install.php	(revision 22127)
+++ wp-admin/install.php	(working copy)
@@ -167,6 +167,11 @@
 	die( '<h1>' . __( 'Configuration Error' ) . '</h1><p>' . __( 'Your <code>wp-config.php</code> file has an empty database table prefix, which is not supported.' ) . '</p></body></html>' );
 }
 
+if ( ! $wpdb->get_row( $wpdb->prepare( 'SHOW CHARACTER SET WHERE Charset = %s', DB_CHARSET ) ) ) {
+	display_header();
+	die( '<h1>' . __( 'Configuration Error' ) . '</h1><p>' . sprintf( __( "Your <code>wp-config.php</code> file has '%s' database charset, which is not available in your database." ), DB_CHARSET ) . '</p></body></html>' );
+}
+
 switch($step) {
 	case 0: // Step 1
 	case 1: // Step 1, direct link.