diff --git a/direct/src/showutil/dist.py b/direct/src/showutil/dist.py
index 2d4f3e8ea7..cb0cb7c4dc 100644
--- a/direct/src/showutil/dist.py
+++ b/direct/src/showutil/dist.py
@@ -109,6 +109,8 @@ class build(distutils.command.build.build):
             for app in self.distribution.applications:
                 freezer = FreezeTool.Freezer(platform=platform)
                 freezer.addModule('__main__', filename=app.scriptname)
+                if platform.startswith('win'):
+                    freezer.addModule('encodings.cp437')
                 for exmod in self.distribution.exclude_modules:
                     freezer.excludeModule(exmod)
                 freezer.done(addStartupModules=True)