diff --git a/addons/base/controllers/main.py b/addons/base/controllers/main.py
index 9a024c22fd5..cef15d76231 100644
--- a/addons/base/controllers/main.py
+++ b/addons/base/controllers/main.py
@@ -1112,7 +1112,7 @@ def export_xls(fieldnames, table):
     data = fp.read()
     fp.close()
     #return data.decode('ISO-8859-1')
-    return unicode(data, 'utf-8', 'replace')
+    return base64.b64encode(data)
 
 class Export(View):
     _cp_path = "/base/export"
diff --git a/addons/base/static/src/js/data_export.js b/addons/base/static/src/js/data_export.js
index 2d5a128b37b..6180ef80183 100644
--- a/addons/base/static/src/js/data_export.js
+++ b/addons/base/static/src/js/data_export.js
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ openerp.base.DataExport = openerp.base.Dialog.extend({
         }, function(data) {
             var mime = export_format === 'csv'
                     ? 'text/csv;charset=utf8'
-                    : 'application/vnd.mx-excel';
+                    : 'application/vnd.mx-excel;base64';
             window.location = 'data:' + mime + ',' + data;
             self.close();
         });