diff --git a/beets/ui/__init__.py b/beets/ui/__init__.py
index 1d6becabe..ff12a1d7b 100644
--- a/beets/ui/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/ui/__init__.py
@@ -72,14 +72,23 @@ class UserError(Exception):
 
 # Utilities.
 
-def _encoding():
-    """Tries to guess the encoding used by the terminal."""
+def _out_encoding():
+    """Get the encoding to use for *outputting* strings to the console.
+    """
     # Configured override?
     encoding = config['terminal_encoding'].get()
     if encoding:
         return encoding
 
-    # Determine from locale settings.
+    # Python's guessed output stream encoding, or UTF-8 as a fallback
+    # (e.g., when piped to a file).
+    return sys.stdout.encoding or 'utf8'
+
+
+def _arg_encoding():
+    """Get the encoding for command-line arguments (and other OS
+    locale-sensitive strings).
+    """
     try:
         return locale.getdefaultlocale()[1] or 'utf8'
     except ValueError:
@@ -92,7 +101,7 @@ def decargs(arglist):
     """Given a list of command-line argument bytestrings, attempts to
     decode them to Unicode strings.
     """
-    return [s.decode(_encoding()) for s in arglist]
+    return [s.decode(_arg_encoding()) for s in arglist]
 
 
 def print_(*strings):
@@ -100,8 +109,8 @@ def print_(*strings):
     is not in the terminal's encoding's character set, just silently
     replaces it.
 
-    If the arguments are strings then they're expected to share the same type:
-    either bytes or unicode.
+    If the arguments are strings then they're expected to share the same
+    type: either bytes or unicode.
     """
     if strings:
         if isinstance(strings[0], unicode):
@@ -111,7 +120,7 @@ def print_(*strings):
     else:
         txt = u''
     if isinstance(txt, unicode):
-        txt = txt.encode(_encoding(), 'replace')
+        txt = txt.encode(_out_encoding(), 'replace')
     print(txt)
 
 
@@ -126,7 +135,7 @@ def input_(prompt=None):
     # http://bugs.python.org/issue1927
     if prompt:
         if isinstance(prompt, unicode):
-            prompt = prompt.encode(_encoding(), 'replace')
+            prompt = prompt.encode(_out_encoding(), 'replace')
         print(prompt, end=' ')
 
     try:
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 600a80100..06da8f370 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ Little fixes and improvements:
 * :doc:`/plugins/replaygain`: Fix a number of issues with the new
   ``bs1770gain`` backend on Windows. Also, fix missing debug output in import
   mode. :bug:`1398`
+* Beets should now be better at guessing the appropriate output encoding on
+  Windows. (Specifically, the console output encoding is guessed separately
+  from the encoding for command-line arguments.) :bug:`1419`
 
 1.3.11 (April 5, 2015)
 ----------------------
diff --git a/test/helper.py b/test/helper.py
index 3de31e2df..c23e036e4 100644
--- a/test/helper.py
+++ b/test/helper.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ from beets.library import Library, Item, Album
 from beets import importer
 from beets.autotag.hooks import AlbumInfo, TrackInfo
 from beets.mediafile import MediaFile, Image
-from beets.ui import _encoding
+from beets.ui import _arg_encoding
 
 # TODO Move AutotagMock here
 from test import _common
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ def has_program(cmd, args=['--version']):
     full_cmd = [cmd] + args
     for i, elem in enumerate(full_cmd):
         if isinstance(elem, unicode):
-            full_cmd[i] = elem.encode(_encoding())
+            full_cmd[i] = elem.encode(_arg_encoding())
     try:
         with open(os.devnull, 'wb') as devnull:
             subprocess.check_call(full_cmd, stderr=devnull,