diff --git a/R/meta.R b/R/meta.R
index 69c3888..c33705d 100644
--- a/R/meta.R
+++ b/R/meta.R
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ meta <- function(x, ...) {
 #' @importFrom assertthat assert_that is.string noNA
 meta.character <- function(x, na = "NA", ...) {
   assert_that(is.string(na), noNA(na), no_whitespace(na))
-  x <- iconv(x, to = "UTF-8")
+  x <- iconv(x, from = "UTF-8", to = "UTF-8")
   if (na %in% x) {
     stop("one of the strings matches the NA string ('", na, "')
 Please use a different NA string or consider using a factor.", call. = FALSE)
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ meta.numeric <- function(x, ...) {
 #' @importFrom assertthat assert_that is.flag noNA
 meta.factor <- function(x, optimize = TRUE, na = "NA", index, ...) {
   assert_that(is.flag(optimize), noNA(optimize))
-  levels(x) <- iconv(levels(x), to = "UTF-8")
+  levels(x) <- iconv(levels(x), from = "UTF-8", to = "UTF-8")
   if (missing(index) || is.null(index)) {
     index <- seq_along(levels(x))
     names(index) <- levels(x)
diff --git a/tests/testthat/setup_test_data.R b/tests/testthat/setup_test_data.R
index 19a47e3..b8c3f4b 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/setup_test_data.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/setup_test_data.R
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ test_data <- data.frame(
 old_locale <- git2rdata:::set_c_locale()
 sorted_test_data <- test_data[order(test_data$test_Date), ]
 git2rdata:::set_local_locale(old_locale)
+sorted_test_data$test_character <- iconv(
+  sorted_test_data$test_character, from = "UTF-8", to = "UTF-8"
+)
 rownames(sorted_test_data) <- NULL
 attr(sorted_test_data$test_POSIXct, "tzone") <- "UTC"
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_b_special.R b/tests/testthat/test_b_special.R
index d2552d2..387d12a 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_b_special.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_b_special.R
@@ -58,14 +58,14 @@ expect_equal(
 
 expect_equal(
   names(suppressWarnings(write_vc(ds, "test_data_hash", root)))[1],
-  "be6352bd3b0d1b3cd81739a5190c24a277ea16d5"
+  "c9e802041a28f322c94ba590607786a6bf8e590f"
 )
 expect_silent({
   output_test_data_hash <- read_vc("test_data_hash", root)
 })
 expect_equal(
   names(attr(output_test_data_hash, "source")[1]),
-  "be6352bd3b0d1b3cd81739a5190c24a277ea16d5"
+  "c9e802041a28f322c94ba590607786a6bf8e590f"
 )
 attr(output_test_data_hash, "source") <- NULL
 expect_equal(