diff -r a82d7e028458 Doc/library/poplib.rst
--- a/Doc/library/poplib.rst	Mon Jun 16 19:26:56 2014 -0400
+++ b/Doc/library/poplib.rst	Thu Jun 19 01:14:13 2014 +0200
@@ -194,6 +194,15 @@
    the unique id for that message in the form ``'response mesgnum uid``, otherwise
    result is list ``(response, ['mesgnum uid', ...], octets)``.
 
+
+.. method:: POP3.utf8()
+
+   Switch to UTF-8 mode if the server supports it. Returns the servers
+   response. Specified in :RFC:`6856`.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.5
+
+
 .. method:: POP3.stls(context=None)
 
    Start a TLS session on the active connection as specified in :rfc:`2595`.
diff -r a82d7e028458 Lib/poplib.py
--- a/Lib/poplib.py	Mon Jun 16 19:26:56 2014 -0400
+++ b/Lib/poplib.py	Thu Jun 19 01:14:13 2014 +0200
@@ -343,6 +343,13 @@
         return self._longcmd('UIDL')
 
 
+    def utf8(self):
+        """Enter UTF-8  mode if supported by the server. Return capability
+        response or error message from server. Specified in RFC 6856.
+        """
+        return self._shortcmd('UTF8')
+
+
     def capa(self):
         """Return server capabilities (RFC 2449) as a dictionary
         >>> c=poplib.POP3('localhost')
diff -r a82d7e028458 Lib/test/test_poplib.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_poplib.py	Mon Jun 16 19:26:56 2014 -0400
+++ b/Lib/test/test_poplib.py	Thu Jun 19 01:14:13 2014 +0200
@@ -145,6 +145,9 @@
                 self.push(' '.join(_ln))
         self.push('.')
 
+    def cmd_utf8(self, arg):
+        self.push('+OK I know RFC6856')
+
     if SUPPORTS_SSL:
 
         def cmd_stls(self, arg):
@@ -312,6 +315,11 @@
         self.client.uidl()
         self.client.uidl('foo')
 
+    def test_utf8(self):
+        expected = b'+OK I know RFC6856'
+        result = self.client.utf8()
+        self.assertEqual(result, expected)
+
     def test_capa(self):
         capa = self.client.capa()
         self.assertTrue('IMPLEMENTATION' in capa.keys())