diff --git a/bin/pt-archiver b/bin/pt-archiver
index 3bd62513..541438b8 100755
--- a/bin/pt-archiver
+++ b/bin/pt-archiver
@@ -2121,6 +2121,12 @@ sub fill_in_dsn {
    $dsn->{D} ||= $db;
 }
 
+my %encoding_aliases = (
+   'utf-8'      => 'utf8',
+   'iso-8859-1' => 'latin1',
+   'latin-1'    => 'latin1',
+);
+
 sub get_dbh {
    my ( $self, $cxn_string, $user, $pass, $opts ) = @_;
    $opts ||= {};
@@ -2129,7 +2135,7 @@ sub get_dbh {
       RaiseError         => 1,
       PrintError         => 0,
       ShowErrorStatement => 1,
-      mysql_enable_utf8 => ($cxn_string =~ m/charset=utf8/i ? 1 : 0),
+      mysql_enable_utf8 => ($cxn_string =~ m/charset=utf-?8/i ? 1 : 0),
    };
    @{$defaults}{ keys %$opts } = values %$opts;
 
@@ -2182,7 +2188,7 @@ sub get_dbh {
       PTDEBUG && _d($dbh, $sql);
       my ($sql_mode) = eval { $dbh->selectrow_array($sql) };
       if ( $EVAL_ERROR ) {
-         die $EVAL_ERROR;
+         die "Error getting the current SQL_MODE: $EVAL_ERROR";
       }
 
       $sql = 'SET @@SQL_QUOTE_SHOW_CREATE = 1'
@@ -2192,15 +2198,18 @@ sub get_dbh {
       PTDEBUG && _d($dbh, $sql);
       eval { $dbh->do($sql) };
       if ( $EVAL_ERROR ) {
-         die $EVAL_ERROR;
+         die "Error setting SQL_QUOTE_SHOW_CREATE, SQL_MODE"
+           . ($sql_mode ? " and $sql_mode" : '')
+           . ": $EVAL_ERROR";
       }
 
-      if ( my ($charset) = $cxn_string =~ m/charset=(\w+)/ ) {
-         $sql = "/*!40101 SET NAMES $charset*/";
+      if ( my ($charset) = $cxn_string =~ m/charset=([-\w]+)/ ) {
+         $charset = $encoding_aliases{lc($charset)} || $charset;
+         $sql = qq{/*!40101 SET NAMES "$charset"*/};
          PTDEBUG && _d($dbh, ':', $sql);
          eval { $dbh->do($sql) };
          if ( $EVAL_ERROR ) {
-            die $EVAL_ERROR;
+            die "Error setting NAMES to $charset: $EVAL_ERROR";
          }
          PTDEBUG && _d('Enabling charset for STDOUT');
          if ( $charset eq 'utf8' ) {
@@ -2212,12 +2221,12 @@ sub get_dbh {
          }
       }
 
-      if ( $self->prop('set-vars') ) {
-         $sql = "SET " . $self->prop('set-vars');
+      if ( my $var = $self->prop('set-vars') ) {
+         $sql = "SET $var";
          PTDEBUG && _d($dbh, ':', $sql);
          eval { $dbh->do($sql) };
          if ( $EVAL_ERROR ) {
-            die $EVAL_ERROR;
+            die "Error setting $var: $EVAL_ERROR";
          }
       }
    }
diff --git a/lib/DSNParser.pm b/lib/DSNParser.pm
index 0d73556d..983c3e2f 100644
--- a/lib/DSNParser.pm
+++ b/lib/DSNParser.pm
@@ -263,6 +263,18 @@ sub fill_in_dsn {
    $dsn->{D} ||= $db;
 }
 
+# MySQL won't resolve iso-8859-1 or latin-1 as latin1, while Perl would, so
+# we hardcode the aliases here. The UTF-8 case is a bit different;
+# MySQL doesn't really support UTF-8 in SET NAMES, instead using
+# their own definition, which is constrained to codepoints 0..0xFFFF, so
+# rightfully calls it something different: utf8. I'm not actually sure
+# if the naming convention is intended or plain lucky on their part, though.
+my %encoding_aliases = (
+   'utf-8'      => 'utf8',
+   'iso-8859-1' => 'latin1',
+   'latin-1'    => 'latin1',
+);
+
 # Actually opens a connection, then sets some things on the connection so it is
 # the way the Maatkit tools will expect.  Tools should NEVER open their own
 # connection or use $dbh->reconnect, or these things will not take place!
@@ -274,7 +286,7 @@ sub get_dbh {
       RaiseError         => 1,
       PrintError         => 0,
       ShowErrorStatement => 1,
-      mysql_enable_utf8 => ($cxn_string =~ m/charset=utf8/i ? 1 : 0),
+      mysql_enable_utf8 => ($cxn_string =~ m/charset=utf-?8/i ? 1 : 0),
    };
    @{$defaults}{ keys %$opts } = values %$opts;
 
@@ -336,7 +348,7 @@ sub get_dbh {
       PTDEBUG && _d($dbh, $sql);
       my ($sql_mode) = eval { $dbh->selectrow_array($sql) };
       if ( $EVAL_ERROR ) {
-         die $EVAL_ERROR;
+         die "Error getting the current SQL_MODE: $EVAL_ERROR";
       }
 
       $sql = 'SET @@SQL_QUOTE_SHOW_CREATE = 1'
@@ -346,16 +358,19 @@ sub get_dbh {
       PTDEBUG && _d($dbh, $sql);
       eval { $dbh->do($sql) };
       if ( $EVAL_ERROR ) {
-         die $EVAL_ERROR;
+         die "Error setting SQL_QUOTE_SHOW_CREATE, SQL_MODE"
+           . ($sql_mode ? " and $sql_mode" : '')
+           . ": $EVAL_ERROR";
       }
 
       # Set character set and binmode on STDOUT.
-      if ( my ($charset) = $cxn_string =~ m/charset=(\w+)/ ) {
-         $sql = "/*!40101 SET NAMES $charset*/";
+      if ( my ($charset) = $cxn_string =~ m/charset=([-\w]+)/ ) {
+         $charset = $encoding_aliases{lc($charset)} || $charset;
+         $sql = qq{/*!40101 SET NAMES "$charset"*/};
          PTDEBUG && _d($dbh, ':', $sql);
          eval { $dbh->do($sql) };
          if ( $EVAL_ERROR ) {
-            die $EVAL_ERROR;
+            die "Error setting NAMES to $charset: $EVAL_ERROR";
          }
          PTDEBUG && _d('Enabling charset for STDOUT');
          if ( $charset eq 'utf8' ) {
@@ -367,12 +382,12 @@ sub get_dbh {
          }
       }
 
-      if ( $self->prop('set-vars') ) {
-         $sql = "SET " . $self->prop('set-vars');
+      if ( my $var = $self->prop('set-vars') ) {
+         $sql = "SET $var";
          PTDEBUG && _d($dbh, ':', $sql);
          eval { $dbh->do($sql) };
          if ( $EVAL_ERROR ) {
-            die $EVAL_ERROR;
+            die "Error setting $var: $EVAL_ERROR";
          }
       }
    }
diff --git a/t/pt-archiver/file.t b/t/pt-archiver/file.t
index de5a337b..98e17bd2 100644
--- a/t/pt-archiver/file.t
+++ b/t/pt-archiver/file.t
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ if ( !$dbh ) {
    plan skip_all => 'Cannot connect to sandbox master';
 }
 else {
-   plan tests => 12;
+   plan tests => 13;
 }
 
 my $output;
@@ -80,25 +80,28 @@ sub test_charset {
    
    $sb->load_file('master', 't/pt-archiver/samples/table1.sql');
    local $@;
-   eval {
+   my ($out, $exit_val) = full_output( sub {
       pt_archiver::main("-c", "b,c", qw(--where 1=1 --header),
             "--source", "D=test,t=table_1,F=$cnf",
             '--file', '/tmp/%Y-%m-%d-%D_%H:%i:%s.%t',
             '--no-check-charset',
             '--charset', $charset,
       );
-   };
+   });
 
-   ok !$@, "--charset $charset works";
+   is($exit_val,
+      0,
+      "--charset $charset works"
+   ) or diag($out);
 }
 
-for my $charset (qw(latin1 iso-8859-1 utf8 UTF-8 )) {
+for my $charset (qw(latin1 iso-8859-1 latin-1 utf8 UTF-8 UTF8 )) {
    test_charset($charset);
 }
 
 my $warning;
 local $SIG{__WARN__} = sub { $warning .= shift };
-my $out = output( sub {
+my ($out) = full_output( sub {
       $sb->load_file('master', 't/pt-archiver/samples/table1.sql');
       pt_archiver::main("-c", "b,c", qw(--where 1=1 --header),
             "--source", "D=test,t=table_1,F=$cnf",
@@ -109,8 +112,7 @@ my $out = output( sub {
    },
 );
 
-like($out, qr/\QCannot open :encoding(some_chars/, "..but an unknown charset fails");
-like($warning, qr/Cannot find encoding/, "..and throws a useful warning");
+like($out, qr/\QError setting NAMES to some_charset_that_doesn/, "..but an unknown charset fails");
 
 # #############################################################################
 # Done.