Index: wp-config-sample.php
===================================================================
--- wp-config-sample.php	(revision 3879)
+++ wp-config-sample.php	(working copy)
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 define('DB_USER', 'username');     // Your MySQL username
 define('DB_PASSWORD', 'password'); // ...and password
 define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');    // 99% chance you won't need to change this value
+//define('INITIAL_QUERY', "SET NAMES 'utf8'"); // MySQL 4.1 or later, you may need to uncomment this
 
 // You can have multiple installations in one database if you give each a unique prefix
 $table_prefix  = 'wp_';   // Only numbers, letters, and underscores please!
Index: wp-settings.php
===================================================================
--- wp-settings.php	(revision 3879)
+++ wp-settings.php	(working copy)
@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@
 define('WPINC', 'wp-includes');
 require_once (ABSPATH . WPINC . '/wp-db.php');
 
+if(defined('INITIAL_QUERY'))
+	$wpdb->query(INITIAL_QUERY);
+
 // Table names
 $wpdb->posts            = $table_prefix . 'posts';
 $wpdb->users            = $table_prefix . 'users';