diff --git a/flume-ng-sdk/src/main/java/org/apache/flume/event/JSONEvent.java b/flume-ng-sdk/src/main/java/org/apache/flume/event/JSONEvent.java
index 9ee90aec6c..4f44263e8d 100644
--- a/flume-ng-sdk/src/main/java/org/apache/flume/event/JSONEvent.java
+++ b/flume-ng-sdk/src/main/java/org/apache/flume/event/JSONEvent.java
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public byte[] getBody() {
   @Override
   public void setBody(byte[] body) {
     if (body != null) {
-      this.body = new String(body);
+      this.body = new String(body, charset);
     } else {
       this.body = "";
     }