diff --git a/compressor/__init__.py b/compressor/__init__.py
index ef822f1..22e67b0 100644
--- a/compressor/__init__.py
+++ b/compressor/__init__.py
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ class Compressor(object):
                 input = fd.read()
                 if self.filters:
                     input = self.filter(input, 'input', filename=v, elem=elem)
-                self._hunks.append(unicode(input, elem.get('charset', django_settings.DEFAULT_CHARSET)))
+                charset = elem.get('charset', django_settings.DEFAULT_CHARSET)
+                self._hunks.append(unicode(input, charset))
                 fd.close()
         return self._hunks
 
@@ -94,7 +95,6 @@ class Compressor(object):
         return "\n".join([hunk.encode(django_settings.DEFAULT_CHARSET) for hunk in self.hunks])
 
     def filter(self, content, method, **kwargs):
-        content = content
         for f in self.filters:
             filter = getattr(filters.get_class(f)(content, filter_type=self.type), method)
             try:
diff --git a/tests/core/tests.py b/tests/core/tests.py
index 2b528eb..9d370bf 100644
--- a/tests/core/tests.py
+++ b/tests/core/tests.py
@@ -213,6 +213,16 @@ class TemplatetagTestCase(TestCase):
         out = u'<script type="text/javascript" src="/media/CACHE/js/5d5c0e1cb25f.js" charset="utf-8"></script>'
         self.assertEqual(out, render(template, context))
 
+    def test_nonascii_latin1_js_tag(self):
+        template = u"""{% load compress %}{% compress js %}
+        <script src="{{ MEDIA_URL }}js/nonasc_latin1.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
+        <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">var test_value = "\u2014";</script>
+        {% endcompress %}
+        """
+        context = { 'MEDIA_URL': settings.MEDIA_URL }
+        out = u'<script type="text/javascript" src="/media/CACHE/js/40a8e9ffb476.js" charset="utf-8"></script>'
+        self.assertEqual(out, render(template, context))
+
 class TestStorage(CompressorFileStorage):
     """
     Test compressor storage that gzips storage files
diff --git a/tests/media/js/nonasc-latin1.js b/tests/media/js/nonasc-latin1.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..109aa20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/media/js/nonasc-latin1.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+var test_value = "Überstríng";