diff --git a/django/newforms/forms.py b/django/newforms/forms.py
index c907a03a04..503e17937a 100644
--- a/django/newforms/forms.py
+++ b/django/newforms/forms.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from django.utils.datastructures import SortedDict
 from django.utils.html import escape
 from fields import Field
 from widgets import TextInput, Textarea, HiddenInput
-from util import ErrorDict, ErrorList, ValidationError
+from util import StrAndUnicode, ErrorDict, ErrorList, ValidationError
 
 NON_FIELD_ERRORS = '__all__'
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class DeclarativeFieldsMetaclass(type):
         attrs['fields'] = SortedDictFromList(fields)
         return type.__new__(cls, name, bases, attrs)
 
-class Form(object):
+class Form(StrAndUnicode):
     "A collection of Fields, plus their associated data."
     __metaclass__ = DeclarativeFieldsMetaclass
 
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class Form(object):
         self.clean_data = None # Stores the data after clean() has been called.
         self.__errors = None # Stores the errors after clean() has been called.
 
-    def __str__(self):
+    def __unicode__(self):
         return self.as_table()
 
     def __iter__(self):
@@ -155,14 +155,14 @@ class Form(object):
         """
         return self.clean_data
 
-class BoundField(object):
+class BoundField(StrAndUnicode):
     "A Field plus data"
     def __init__(self, form, field, name):
         self.form = form
         self.field = field
         self.name = name
 
-    def __str__(self):
+    def __unicode__(self):
         "Renders this field as an HTML widget."
         # Use the 'widget' attribute on the field to determine which type
         # of HTML widget to use.
diff --git a/django/newforms/util.py b/django/newforms/util.py
index a5cc4932ea..a78623a17b 100644
--- a/django/newforms/util.py
+++ b/django/newforms/util.py
@@ -1,13 +1,22 @@
-# Default encoding for input byte strings.
-DEFAULT_ENCODING = 'utf-8' # TODO: First look at django.conf.settings, then fall back to this.
+from django.conf import settings
 
 def smart_unicode(s):
     if not isinstance(s, basestring):
         s = unicode(str(s))
     elif not isinstance(s, unicode):
-        s = unicode(s, DEFAULT_ENCODING)
+        s = unicode(s, settings.DEFAULT_CHARSET)
     return s
 
+class StrAndUnicode(object):
+    """
+    A class whose __str__ returns its __unicode__ as a bytestring
+    according to settings.DEFAULT_CHARSET.
+
+    Useful as a mix-in.
+    """
+    def __str__(self):
+        return self.__unicode__().encode(settings.DEFAULT_CHARSET)
+
 class ErrorDict(dict):
     """
     A collection of errors that knows how to display itself in various formats.
diff --git a/django/newforms/widgets.py b/django/newforms/widgets.py
index 274ba01225..1a2d7d67c9 100644
--- a/django/newforms/widgets.py
+++ b/django/newforms/widgets.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ __all__ = (
     'Select', 'SelectMultiple', 'RadioSelect', 'CheckboxSelectMultiple',
 )
 
-from util import smart_unicode
+from util import StrAndUnicode, smart_unicode
 from django.utils.html import escape
 from itertools import chain
 
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ class SelectMultiple(Widget):
         output.append(u'</select>')
         return u'\n'.join(output)
 
-class RadioInput(object):
+class RadioInput(StrAndUnicode):
     "An object used by RadioFieldRenderer that represents a single <input type='radio'>."
     def __init__(self, name, value, attrs, choice, index):
         self.name, self.value = name, value
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ class RadioInput(object):
         self.choice_value, self.choice_label = choice
         self.index = index
 
-    def __str__(self):
+    def __unicode__(self):
         return u'<label>%s %s</label>' % (self.tag(), self.choice_label)
 
     def is_checked(self):
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ class RadioInput(object):
             final_attrs['checked'] = 'checked'
         return u'<input%s />' % flatatt(final_attrs)
 
-class RadioFieldRenderer(object):
+class RadioFieldRenderer(StrAndUnicode):
     "An object used by RadioSelect to enable customization of radio widgets."
     def __init__(self, name, value, attrs, choices):
         self.name, self.value, self.attrs = name, value, attrs
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ class RadioFieldRenderer(object):
         for i, choice in enumerate(self.choices):
             yield RadioInput(self.name, self.value, self.attrs.copy(), choice, i)
 
-    def __str__(self):
+    def __unicode__(self):
         "Outputs a <ul> for this set of radio fields."
         return u'<ul>\n%s\n</ul>' % u'\n'.join([u'<li>%s</li>' % w for w in self])