Index: Lib/doctest.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/doctest.py	(revision 78464)
+++ Lib/doctest.py	(working copy)
@@ -218,11 +218,16 @@
                 return file_contents.replace(os.linesep, '\n'), filename
     return open(filename).read(), filename
 
+_encoding = getattr(sys.stdout, 'encoding', None) or 'utf-8'
+
 def _indent(s, indent=4):
     """
     Add the given number of space characters to the beginning every
     non-blank line in `s`, and return the result.
     """
+    # Coerce all Unicode strings to bytestrings for output
+    if isinstance(s, unicode):
+        s = s.encode(_encoding, 'backslashreplace')
     # This regexp matches the start of non-blank lines:
     return re.sub('(?m)^(?!$)', indent*' ', s)
 
Index: Lib/test/test_doctest.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_doctest.py	(revision 78464)
+++ Lib/test/test_doctest.py	(working copy)
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 """
 Test script for doctest.
 """
@@ -372,7 +373,7 @@
     >>> tests = finder.find(sample_func)
 
     >>> print tests  # doctest: +ELLIPSIS
-    [<DocTest sample_func from ...:16 (1 example)>]
+    [<DocTest sample_func from ...:17 (1 example)>]
 
 The exact name depends on how test_doctest was invoked, so allow for
 leading path components.
@@ -2284,6 +2285,40 @@
     >>> doctest.testfile('test_doctest4.txt', encoding='utf-8')
     TestResults(failed=0, attempted=4)
     >>> doctest.master = None  # Reset master.
+
+Switch the module encoding to 'utf-8' to test the verbose output without
+bothering with the current sys.stdout encoding.
+
+    >>> saved_encoding, doctest._encoding = doctest._encoding, 'utf-8'
+    >>> doctest.testfile('test_doctest4.txt', encoding='utf-8', verbose=True)
+    Trying:
+        u'föö'
+    Expecting:
+        u'f\xf6\xf6'
+    ok
+    Trying:
+        u'bąr'
+    Expecting:
+        u'b\u0105r'
+    ok
+    Trying:
+        'föö'
+    Expecting:
+        'f\xc3\xb6\xc3\xb6'
+    ok
+    Trying:
+        'bąr'
+    Expecting:
+        'b\xc4\x85r'
+    ok
+    1 items passed all tests:
+       4 tests in test_doctest4.txt
+    4 tests in 1 items.
+    4 passed and 0 failed.
+    Test passed.
+    TestResults(failed=0, attempted=4)
+    >>> doctest._encoding = saved_encoding
+    >>> doctest.master = None  # Reset master.
 """
 
 # old_test1, ... used to live in doctest.py, but cluttered it.  Note
@@ -2419,9 +2454,25 @@
 def test_main():
     # Check the doctest cases in doctest itself:
     test_support.run_doctest(doctest, verbosity=True)
-    # Check the doctest cases defined here:
+
     from test import test_doctest
-    test_support.run_doctest(test_doctest, verbosity=True)
+    with warnings.catch_warnings():
+        # Silence Py3k warning
+        warnings.filterwarnings("ignore", "backquote not supported",
+                                SyntaxWarning)
+        warnings.filterwarnings("ignore", "execfile.. not supported",
+                                DeprecationWarning)
+        # Save the real sys.argv list.
+        save_argv = sys.argv
+        if '-v' in sys.argv:
+            # Remove '-v' before running tests
+            sys.argv = [arg for arg in save_argv if arg != '-v']
+        try:
+            # Check the doctest cases defined here:
+            test_support.run_doctest(test_doctest, verbosity=True)
+        finally:
+            # Restore sys.argv
+            sys.argv = save_argv
 
 import trace, sys
 def test_coverage(coverdir):