diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/internal/core/util/Sender.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/internal/core/util/Sender.java
index d4b537a13eb..20884be14b3 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/internal/core/util/Sender.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/internal/core/util/Sender.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  * Contributors:
  * David McKnight  (IBM)   [222168][dstore] Buffer in DataElement is not sent
  * David McKnight  (IBM)   [305218][dstore] problem reading double-byte characters through data socket layer
+ * David McKnight  (IBM)   [307541][dstore] fix for Bug 305218 breaks RDz connections
  *******************************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.dstore.internal.core.util;
@@ -74,6 +75,10 @@ public class Sender implements ISender
 			String encoding = DE.ENCODING_UTF_8;
 			if (!_dataStore.isVirtual()){
 				encoding = System.getProperty("file.encoding"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+				String theOS = System.getProperty("os.name"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+				if (theOS.startsWith("z")){ //$NON-NLS-1$
+					encoding = DE.ENCODING_UTF_8;
+				}
 			}
 			
 			
diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/internal/core/util/XMLparser.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/internal/core/util/XMLparser.java
index 34ecad7d8c6..0f291e44dbe 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/internal/core/util/XMLparser.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/internal/core/util/XMLparser.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  * David McKnight     (IBM)   [224906] [dstore] changes for getting properties and doing exit due to single-process capability
  * David McKnight  (IBM)   [246826][dstore] KeepAlive does not work correctly
  * David McKnight  (IBM)   [305218][dstore] problem reading double-byte characters through data socket layer
+ * David McKnight  (IBM)   [307541][dstore] fix for Bug 305218 breaks RDz connections
  *******************************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.dstore.internal.core.util;
@@ -449,6 +450,10 @@ public class XMLparser
 			String encoding = DE.ENCODING_UTF_8;
 			if (!_dataStore.isVirtual()){
 				encoding = System.getProperty("file.encoding"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+				String theOS = System.getProperty("os.name"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+				if (theOS.startsWith("z")){ //$NON-NLS-1$
+					encoding = DE.ENCODING_UTF_8;
+				}
 			}
 
 			try