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	Sun May 13 22:24:41 2012 +0100
@@ -152,6 +152,8 @@
     """Internal function. Calling it will throw the exception SystemExit."""
     raise SystemExit(code)
 
+_windowingsystem_cached = None    
+
 _varnum = 0
 class Variable:
     """Class to define value holders for e.g. buttons.
@@ -540,12 +542,19 @@
 
         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 to try UTF8_STRING and fall back to STRING.
 
         This command is equivalent to:
 
         selection_get(CLIPBOARD)
         """
+        if 'type' not in kw and self._windowingsystem == 'x11':
+            try:
+                kw['type'] = 'UTF8_STRING'
+                return self.tk.call(('clipboard', 'get') + self._options(kw))
+            except TclError:
+                del kw['type']
         return self.tk.call(('clipboard', 'get') + self._options(kw))
 
     def clipboard_clear(self, **kw):
@@ -627,8 +636,16 @@
         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 STRING except on X11, where UTF8_STRING is tried
+        before STRING."""
         if 'displayof' not in kw: kw['displayof'] = self._w
+        if 'type' not in kw and self._windowingsystem == 'x11':
+            try:
+                kw['type'] = 'UTF8_STRING'
+                return self.tk.call(('selection', 'get') + self._options(kw))
+            except TclError:
+                del kw['type']
         return self.tk.call(('selection', 'get') + self._options(kw))
     def selection_handle(self, command, **kw):
         """Specify a function COMMAND to call if the X
@@ -1043,6 +1060,13 @@
         if displayof is None:
             return ('-displayof', self._w)
         return ()
+    @property
+    def _windowingsystem(self):
+        """Internal function."""
+        global _windowingsystem_cached
+        if _windowingsystem_cached is None:
+            _windowingsystem_cached = self.tk.call('tk', 'windowingsystem')
+        return _windowingsystem_cached
     def _options(self, cnf, kw = None):
         """Internal function."""
         if kw: