diff -r 9d9495fabeb9 Lib/tkinter/__init__.py
--- a/Lib/tkinter/__init__.py	Sat May 12 15:51:51 2012 +0200
+++ b/Lib/tkinter/__init__.py	Sat May 12 18:17:12 2012 +0100
@@ -540,12 +540,16 @@
 
         The type keyword specifies the form in which the data is
         to be returned and should be an atom name such as STRING
-        or FILE_NAME.  Type defaults to STRING.
+        or FILE_NAME.  Type defaults to STRING, except on X11, where the default
+        is UTF8_STRING.
 
         This command is equivalent to:
 
         selection_get(CLIPBOARD)
         """
+        if 'type' not in kw \
+                        and self.tk.call(('tk', 'windowingsystem')) == 'x11':
+            kw['type'] = 'UTF8_STRING'
         return self.tk.call(('clipboard', 'get') + self._options(kw))
 
     def clipboard_clear(self, **kw):
@@ -627,8 +631,12 @@
         A keyword parameter selection specifies the name of
         the selection and defaults to PRIMARY.  A keyword
         parameter displayof specifies a widget on the display
-        to use."""
+        to use. A keyword parameter type specifies the form of data to be
+        fetched, defaulting to UTF8_STRING on X11 and STRING elsewhere."""
         if 'displayof' not in kw: kw['displayof'] = self._w
+        if 'type' not in kw \
+                        and self.tk.call(('tk', 'windowingsystem')) == 'x11':
+            kw['type'] = 'UTF8_STRING'
         return self.tk.call(('selection', 'get') + self._options(kw))
     def selection_handle(self, command, **kw):
         """Specify a function COMMAND to call if the X