diff --git a/app/controllers/upgrade_controller.php b/app/controllers/upgrade_controller.php
index 5bb384bd9..0ce2719cc 100644
--- a/app/controllers/upgrade_controller.php
+++ b/app/controllers/upgrade_controller.php
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ function index()
         $dbv = $this->SysParameter->get('database.version');
         // workaround for a mistake in a sql templates in v3.0.x where
         // we forgot to add the system.version entry into sys_parameters
-        if (empty($sysv) && $dbv == 4) {
+        if (empty($sysv) && $dbv == 4 && $this->SysParameter->get('display.vocabulary.department')) {
             // upgrading from iPeer v3.0
             $sysv = '3.0.x';
             $dbv = 5;
diff --git a/app/libs/upgrade_scripts/upgrade_300.php b/app/libs/upgrade_scripts/upgrade_300.php
index 2d75ab43c..30621ddac 100644
--- a/app/libs/upgrade_scripts/upgrade_300.php
+++ b/app/libs/upgrade_scripts/upgrade_300.php
@@ -36,12 +36,12 @@ public function isUpgradable()
         $dbv = $sysparameter->get('database.version');
         $sysv = $sysparameter->get('system.version');
 
-        // If system.version doesn't exist, but we get a database version of 4, 
-        // then that means we're upgrading from a prior iPeer v3 installation 
+        // If system.version doesn't exist, but we get a database version of 4,
+        // then that means we're upgrading from a prior iPeer v3 installation
         // and don't need to run this upgrader.
-        if (empty($sysv) && $dbv == 4) {
-            return false;
-        }
+#        if (empty($sysv) && $dbv == 4) {
+#            return false;
+#        }
 
         return parent::isUpgradable();
     }
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ public function up()
         // when upgrading from v2, will run through all the delta_*.sql files
         // up to $this->dbVersion because the database version wasn't stored in
         // the database, so PHP get a null value back, which is then treated
-        // as if we're starting from version 0 
+        // as if we're starting from version 0
         $sysparameter = ClassRegistry::init('SysParameter');
         $dbv = $sysparameter->getDatabaseVersion();
         $ret = $this->patchDb($dbv, $this->dbVersion);
diff --git a/app/libs/upgrade_scripts/upgrade_base.php b/app/libs/upgrade_scripts/upgrade_base.php
index ac5b2cff1..1e6c70c7b 100644
--- a/app/libs/upgrade_scripts/upgrade_base.php
+++ b/app/libs/upgrade_scripts/upgrade_base.php
@@ -8,6 +8,15 @@
  * @license   PHP Version 3.0 {@link http://www.php.net/license/3_0.txt}
  * @version   Release: 3.0
  */
+
+// mysql_set_charset is only available PHP 5 >= 5.2.3
+if (!function_exists('mysql_set_charset')) {
+    function mysql_set_charset($charset,$dbh)
+    {
+        return mysql_query("set names $charset",$dbh);
+    }
+}
+
 class UpgradeBase
 {
     public $errors = array();
@@ -136,6 +145,8 @@ protected function connectDb()
             return 'Could not connect to database!';
         }
 
+        mysql_set_charset('utf8', $mysql);
+
         //Open the database
         $mysqldb = mysql_select_db($dbConfig['database']);
         if (!$mysqldb) {