diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 12c7c4cd2..cb987d50f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ As such, a _Feature_ would map to either major or minor. A _bug fix_ to a patch.
 * Breaking Changes
 * Features
 * Fixes
+  * [Fix breaking encoding of tag](https://github.com/mbleigh/acts-as-taggable-on/pull/456)
 * Misc
 
 ### [3.0.0 / 2014-01-01](https://github.com/mbleigh/acts-as-taggable-on/compare/v2.4.1...v3.0.0)
diff --git a/lib/acts_as_taggable_on/tag.rb b/lib/acts_as_taggable_on/tag.rb
index b3727dbf7..d30a0a8fe 100644
--- a/lib/acts_as_taggable_on/tag.rb
+++ b/lib/acts_as_taggable_on/tag.rb
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ def binary
 
       def as_8bit_ascii(string)
         if defined?(Encoding)
-          string.to_s.force_encoding('BINARY')
+          string.to_s.dup.force_encoding('BINARY')
         else
           string.to_s.mb_chars
         end
diff --git a/spec/acts_as_taggable_on/tag_spec.rb b/spec/acts_as_taggable_on/tag_spec.rb
index 01a7df289..cac682507 100644
--- a/spec/acts_as_taggable_on/tag_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/acts_as_taggable_on/tag_spec.rb
@@ -194,6 +194,13 @@
       ActsAsTaggableOn::Tag.named('cool').should include(@tag)
       ActsAsTaggableOn::Tag.named('cool').should_not include(uppercase_tag)
     end
+
+    it "should not change enconding" do
+      name = "\u3042"
+      original_encoding = name.encoding
+      ActsAsTaggableOn::Tag.find_or_create_with_like_by_name(name)
+      name.encoding.should == original_encoding
+    end
   end
 
   describe "name uniqeness validation" do