diff --git a/django/utils/text.py b/django/utils/text.py
index 8206095f42e..ce1225b83c9 100644
--- a/django/utils/text.py
+++ b/django/utils/text.py
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ def javascript_quote(s):
         return r"\u%04x" % ord(match.group(1))
 
     if type(s) == str:
-        s = s.decode(DEFAULT_ENCODING)
+        s = s.decode(DEFAULT_CHARSET)
     elif type(s) != unicode:
         raise TypeError, s
     s = s.replace('\\', '\\\\')