diff --git a/tests/examples/seek/jsseek.c b/tests/examples/seek/jsseek.c
index 7e407d01eb..83d54d650e 100644
--- a/tests/examples/seek/jsseek.c
+++ b/tests/examples/seek/jsseek.c
@@ -3024,6 +3024,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 
   {
     GIOChannel *js_watch = g_io_channel_unix_new (js_fd);
+    g_io_channel_set_encoding (js_watch, NULL, NULL);
     g_io_add_watch (js_watch, G_IO_IN, read_joystick, NULL);
   }