diff --git a/java.j2seproject/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/j2seproject/resources/build-impl.xsl b/java.j2seproject/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/j2seproject/resources/build-impl.xsl
--- a/java.j2seproject/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/j2seproject/resources/build-impl.xsl
+++ b/java.j2seproject/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/j2seproject/resources/build-impl.xsl
@@ -126,14 +126,16 @@
                         </pathconvert>
                         <basename property="libraries.{position()}.basename" file="${{libraries.{position()}.path}}" suffix=".properties"/>
                         <touch file="${{libraries.{position()}.dir}}/${{libraries.{position()}.basename}}-private.properties"/> <!-- has to exist, yuck -->
-                        <loadproperties srcfile="${{libraries.{position()}.dir}}/${{libraries.{position()}.basename}}-private.properties">
+                        <loadproperties srcfile="${{libraries.{position()}.dir}}/${{libraries.{position()}.basename}}-private.properties" encoding="ISO-8859-1">
                             <filterchain>
                                 <replacestring from="$${{base}}" to="${{libraries.{position()}.dir}}"/>
+                                <escapeunicode/>
                             </filterchain>
                         </loadproperties>
-                        <loadproperties srcfile="${{libraries.{position()}.path}}">
+                        <loadproperties srcfile="${{libraries.{position()}.path}}" encoding="ISO-8859-1">
                             <filterchain>
                                 <replacestring from="$${{base}}" to="${{libraries.{position()}.dir}}"/>
+                                <escapeunicode/>
                             </filterchain>
                         </loadproperties>
                     </xsl:for-each>