diff --git a/rem2pdf/bin/rem2pdf.in b/rem2pdf/bin/rem2pdf.in
index 62e61624..037a8197 100644
--- a/rem2pdf/bin/rem2pdf.in
+++ b/rem2pdf/bin/rem2pdf.in
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ my $media_to_size = {
     "10x14"     => [ 720, 1008],
 };
 
+my $help = 0;
+
 my $settings = {
         landscape => 0,
         numbers_on_left => 0,
@@ -93,6 +95,7 @@ Options:
 --margin-bottom=S       Specify bottom margin size in 1/72nds of an inch
 --margin-left=S         Specify left margin size in 1/72nds of an inch
 --margin-right=S        Specify right margin size in 1/72nds of an inch
+--help                  Display this help
 EOF
 }
 
@@ -118,12 +121,18 @@ my $ret = GetOptions('landscape|l' =>        \$settings->{landscape},
                      'margin-bottom=f' =>    \$settings->{margin_bottom},
                      'margin-left=f' =>      \$settings->{margin_left},
                      'margin-right=f' =>     \$settings->{margin_right},
+                     'help' =>               \$help
     );
 if (!$ret) {
         usage();
         exit(1);
 }
 
+if ($help) {
+        usage();
+        exit(0);
+}
+
 if ($settings->{width} <= 0 ||
     $settings->{height} <= 0) {
         my $size = $media_to_size->{ucfirst($settings->{media})};
diff --git a/rem2pdf/lib/Remind/PDF.pm b/rem2pdf/lib/Remind/PDF.pm
index 7c20cc31..49651307 100644
--- a/rem2pdf/lib/Remind/PDF.pm
+++ b/rem2pdf/lib/Remind/PDF.pm
@@ -553,11 +553,11 @@ sub draw_small_calendar
                         $j = $col;
                 }
                 my $day = $self->{daynames}->[$j];
-                my $l = substr($day, 0, 1);
+                my $l = substr(Encode::decode('UTF-8', $day), 0, 1);
                 $layout = Pango::Cairo::create_layout($cr);
                 $desc = Pango::FontDescription->from_string($settings->{small_cal_font} . ' ' . $font_size . 'px');
                 $layout->set_font_description($desc);
-                $layout->set_text(Encode::decode('UTF-8', $l));
+                $layout->set_text($l);
                 $cr->save();
                 $cr->move_to($x + $col*$wid, $y);
                 Pango::Cairo::show_layout($cr, $layout);