diff --git a/git-send-email.perl b/git-send-email.perl
index fdb0029b5..eb3237115 100755
--- a/git-send-email.perl
+++ b/git-send-email.perl
@@ -733,6 +733,7 @@ sub file_declares_8bit_cte {
 		print "    $f\n";
 	}
 	$auto_8bit_encoding = ask("Which 8bit encoding should I declare [UTF-8]? ",
+				  valid_re => qr/.{4}/, confirm_only => 1,
 				  default => "UTF-8");
 }