Index: Lib/pydoc.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/pydoc.py	(revision 77420)
+++ Lib/pydoc.py	(working copy)
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 #     path will be displayed.
 
 import sys, imp, os, re, types, inspect, __builtin__, pkgutil
+import locale
 from repr import Repr
 from string import expandtabs, find, join, lower, split, strip, rfind, rstrip
 from traceback import extract_tb
@@ -1333,7 +1334,8 @@
     if sys.platform == 'win32' or sys.platform.startswith('os2'):
         return lambda text: tempfilepager(plain(text), 'more <')
     if hasattr(os, 'system') and os.system('(less) 2>/dev/null') == 0:
-        return lambda text: pipepager(text, 'less')
+        encoded_text = text.encode(locale.getpreferredencoding())
+        return lambda text: pipepager(encoded_text, 'less')
 
     import tempfile
     (fd, filename) = tempfile.mkstemp()
@@ -1348,7 +1350,7 @@
 
 def plain(text):
     """Remove boldface formatting from text."""
-    return re.sub('.\b', '', text)
+    return re.sub('.\b', '', text).encode(locale.getpreferredencoding())
 
 def pipepager(text, cmd):
     """Page through text by feeding it to another program."""
@@ -1363,7 +1365,7 @@
     """Page through text by invoking a program on a temporary file."""
     import tempfile
     filename = tempfile.mktemp()
-    file = open(filename, 'w')
+    file = open(filename, 'wb')
     file.write(text)
     file.close()
     try:
Index: Lib/test/test_pydoc.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_pydoc.py	(revision 77420)
+++ Lib/test/test_pydoc.py	(working copy)
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 from test import pydoc_mod
 
 expected_text_pattern = \
-"""
+u"""
 NAME
     test.pydoc_mod - This is a test module for test_pydoc
 
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
         hunger
         lack of Python
         war
+        \xfcnicode\u2026
 \x20\x20\x20\x20
     nodoc_func()
 
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@
 """.strip()
 
 expected_html_pattern = \
-"""
+u"""
 <table width="100%%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 border=0 summary="heading">
 <tr bgcolor="#7799ee">
 <td valign=bottom>&nbsp;<br>
@@ -138,7 +139,8 @@
 <td width="100%%"><dl><dt><a name="-doc_func"><strong>doc_func</strong></a>()</dt><dd><tt>This&nbsp;function&nbsp;solves&nbsp;all&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;world's&nbsp;problems:<br>
 hunger<br>
 lack&nbsp;of&nbsp;Python<br>
-war</tt></dd></dl>
+war<br>
+\xfcnicode\u2026</tt></dd></dl>
  <dl><dt><a name="-nodoc_func"><strong>nodoc_func</strong></a>()</dt></dl>
 </td></tr></table><p>
 <table width="100%%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 border=0 summary="section">
Index: Lib/test/pydoc_mod.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/pydoc_mod.py	(revision 77420)
+++ Lib/test/pydoc_mod.py	(working copy)
@@ -16,11 +16,12 @@
     pass
 
 def doc_func():
-    """
+    u"""
     This function solves all of the world's problems:
     hunger
     lack of Python
     war
+    \xfcnicode\u2026
     """
 
 def nodoc_func():