diff --git a/basket/sendbasket.pl b/basket/sendbasket.pl
index 040ae09377..faeebf4d7f 100755
--- a/basket/sendbasket.pl
+++ b/basket/sendbasket.pl
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ my $dbh          = C4::Context->dbh;
 if ( $email_add ) {
     die "Wrong CSRF token" unless Koha::Token->new->check_csrf({
         id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-        secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+        secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
         token  => scalar $query->param('csrf_token'),
     });
     my $email = Koha::Email->new();
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ else {
         virtualshelves => C4::Context->preference("virtualshelves"),
         csrf_token     => Koha::Token->new->generate_csrf(
             {   id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-                secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+                secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
             }
         ),
     );
diff --git a/members/deletemem.pl b/members/deletemem.pl
index b51c721f2f..c764f359b9 100755
--- a/members/deletemem.pl
+++ b/members/deletemem.pl
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ use strict;
 
 use CGI qw ( -utf8 );
 use Digest::MD5 qw(md5_base64);
+use Encode qw( encode );
 use C4::Context;
 use C4::Output;
 use C4::Auth;
@@ -148,7 +149,7 @@ if ( $op eq 'delete_confirm' or $countissues > 0 or $flags->{'CHARGES'}  or $is_
             op         => 'delete_confirm',
             csrf_token => Koha::Token->new->generate_csrf(
                 {   id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-                    secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+                    secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
                 }
             ),
         );
@@ -158,7 +159,7 @@ if ( $op eq 'delete_confirm' or $countissues > 0 or $flags->{'CHARGES'}  or $is_
     die "Wrong CSRF token"
         unless Koha::Token->new->check_csrf({
             id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-            secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+            secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
             token  => scalar $input->param('csrf_token'),
         });
     my $patron = Koha::Patrons->find( $member );
diff --git a/members/member-password.pl b/members/member-password.pl
index d2255f8ddf..82cd642b9a 100755
--- a/members/member-password.pl
+++ b/members/member-password.pl
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ use Koha::Token;
 use Koha::Patron::Categories;
 
 use Digest::MD5 qw(md5_base64);
+use Encode qw( encode );
 
 my $input = new CGI;
 
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ if ( $newpassword && !scalar(@errors) ) {
     die "Wrong CSRF token"
         unless Koha::Token->new->check_csrf({
             id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-            secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+            secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
             token  => scalar $input->param('csrf_token'),
         });
 
@@ -151,7 +152,7 @@ $template->param(
     RoutingSerials             => C4::Context->preference('RoutingSerials'),
     csrf_token                 => Koha::Token->new->generate_csrf({
         id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-        secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+        secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
     }),
 );
 
diff --git a/members/memberentry.pl b/members/memberentry.pl
index 27e6687cf7..61ebed9940 100755
--- a/members/memberentry.pl
+++ b/members/memberentry.pl
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ use warnings;
 use CGI qw ( -utf8 );
 use List::MoreUtils qw/uniq/;
 use Digest::MD5 qw(md5_base64);
+use Encode qw( encode );
 
 # internal modules
 use C4::Auth;
@@ -290,7 +291,7 @@ if ($op eq 'save' || $op eq 'insert'){
     die "Wrong CSRF token"
         unless Koha::Token->new->check_csrf({
             id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-            secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+            secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
             token  => scalar $input->param('csrf_token'),
         });
 
@@ -752,7 +753,7 @@ $template->param(
 $template->param(
     csrf_token => Koha::Token->new->generate_csrf(
         {   id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-            secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+            secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
         }
     ),
 );
diff --git a/members/moremember.pl b/members/moremember.pl
index 0661d0f9a1..70aed84573 100755
--- a/members/moremember.pl
+++ b/members/moremember.pl
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ use strict;
 #use warnings; FIXME - Bug 2505
 use CGI qw ( -utf8 );
 use Digest::MD5 qw(md5_base64);
+use Encode qw( encode );
 use C4::Context;
 use C4::Auth;
 use C4::Output;
@@ -275,7 +276,7 @@ $template->param( picture => 1 ) if $patron_image;
 $template->param(
     csrf_token => Koha::Token->new->generate_csrf({
         id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-        secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+        secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
     }),
 );
 
diff --git a/opac/opac-memberentry.pl b/opac/opac-memberentry.pl
index e03d50314e..59306bc550 100755
--- a/opac/opac-memberentry.pl
+++ b/opac/opac-memberentry.pl
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ use Modern::Perl;
 
 use CGI qw ( -utf8 );
 use Digest::MD5 qw( md5_base64 md5_hex );
+use Encode qw( encode );
 use String::Random qw( random_string );
 
 use C4::Auth;
@@ -200,7 +201,7 @@ elsif ( $action eq 'update' ) {
     die "Wrong CSRF token"
         unless Koha::Token->new->check_csrf({
             id     => $borrower->{userid},
-            secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+            secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
             token  => scalar $cgi->param('csrf_token'),
         });
 
@@ -221,7 +222,7 @@ elsif ( $action eq 'update' ) {
             borrower               => \%borrower,
             csrf_token             => Koha::Token->new->generate_csrf({
                 id     => $borrower->{userid},
-                secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+                secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
             }),
         );
 
@@ -262,7 +263,7 @@ elsif ( $action eq 'update' ) {
                 borrower => GetMember( borrowernumber => $borrowernumber ),
                 csrf_token => Koha::Token->new->generate_csrf({
                     id     => $borrower->{userid},
-                    secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+                    secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
                 }),
             );
         }
@@ -285,7 +286,7 @@ elsif ( $action eq 'edit' ) {    #Display logged in borrower's data
         hidden => GetHiddenFields( $mandatory, 'modification' ),
         csrf_token => Koha::Token->new->generate_csrf({
             id     => $borrower->{userid},
-            secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+            secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
         }),
     );
 
diff --git a/opac/opac-sendbasket.pl b/opac/opac-sendbasket.pl
index 77fc370e31..25b6eac907 100755
--- a/opac/opac-sendbasket.pl
+++ b/opac/opac-sendbasket.pl
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ my $dbh          = C4::Context->dbh;
 if ( $email_add ) {
     die "Wrong CSRF token" unless Koha::Token->new->check_csrf({
         id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-        secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+        secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
         token  => scalar $query->param('csrf_token'),
     });
     my $email = Koha::Email->new();
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ else {
         virtualshelves => C4::Context->preference("virtualshelves"),
         csrf_token     => Koha::Token->new->generate_csrf(
             {   id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-                secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+                secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
             }
         ),
     );
diff --git a/tools/import_borrowers.pl b/tools/import_borrowers.pl
index f5a7921cd6..f22f2efe22 100755
--- a/tools/import_borrowers.pl
+++ b/tools/import_borrowers.pl
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ use Text::CSV;
 # č
 
 use CGI qw ( -utf8 );
-# use encoding 'utf8';    # don't do this
 use Digest::MD5 qw(md5_base64);
+use Encode qw( encode );
 
 my (@errors, @feedback);
 my $extended = C4::Context->preference('ExtendedPatronAttributes');
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ if ( $uploadborrowers && length($uploadborrowers) > 0 ) {
     die "Wrong CSRF token"
         unless Koha::Token->new->check_csrf({
             id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-            secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+            secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
             token  => scalar $input->param('csrf_token'),
         });
 
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ if ( $uploadborrowers && length($uploadborrowers) > 0 ) {
     $template->param(
         csrf_token => Koha::Token->new->generate_csrf(
             {   id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-                secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+                secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
             }
         ),
     );
diff --git a/tools/picture-upload.pl b/tools/picture-upload.pl
index 7e403bba71..87cac77db5 100755
--- a/tools/picture-upload.pl
+++ b/tools/picture-upload.pl
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ use File::Copy;
 use CGI qw ( -utf8 );
 use GD;
 use Digest::MD5 qw(md5_base64);
+use Encode qw( encode );
 use C4::Context;
 use C4::Auth;
 use C4::Output;
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ if ( ( $op eq 'Upload' ) && $uploadfile ) {
     die "Wrong CSRF token"
         unless Koha::Token->new->check_csrf({
             id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-            secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+            secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
             token  => scalar $input->param('csrf_token'),
         });
 
@@ -176,7 +177,7 @@ elsif ( $op eq 'Delete' ) {
     die "Wrong CSRF token"
         unless Koha::Token->new->check_csrf({
             id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-            secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+            secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
             token  => scalar $input->param('csrf_token'),
         });
 
@@ -195,7 +196,7 @@ else {
     $template->param(
         csrf_token => Koha::Token->new->generate_csrf({
             id     => C4::Context->userenv->{id},
-            secret => md5_base64( C4::Context->config('pass') ),
+            secret => md5_base64( Encode::encode( 'UTF-8', C4::Context->config('pass') ) ),
         }),
     );
     output_html_with_http_headers $input, $cookie, $template->output;