diff --git a/evennia/server/portal/telnet.py b/evennia/server/portal/telnet.py
index 9d7b31929d..08267f0ee9 100644
--- a/evennia/server/portal/telnet.py
+++ b/evennia/server/portal/telnet.py
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ _RE_LEND = re.compile(r"\n$|\r$|\r\n$|\r\x00$|", re.MULTILINE)
 _RE_LINEBREAK = re.compile(r"\n\r|\r\n|\n|\r", re.DOTALL + re.MULTILINE)
 _RE_SCREENREADER_REGEX = re.compile(r"%s" % settings.SCREENREADER_REGEX_STRIP, re.DOTALL + re.MULTILINE)
 _IDLE_COMMAND = settings.IDLE_COMMAND + "\n"
-_TELNET_ENCODING = settings.ENCODINGS[0]
 
 class TelnetProtocol(Telnet, StatefulTelnetProtocol, Session):
     """
@@ -49,8 +48,9 @@ class TelnetProtocol(Telnet, StatefulTelnetProtocol, Session):
         # this number is counted down for every handshake that completes.
         # when it reaches 0 the portal/server syncs their data
         self.handshakes = 8  # suppress-go-ahead, naws, ttype, mccp, mssp, msdp, gmcp, mxp
-        self.init_session(self.protocol_name, client_address, self.factory.sessionhandler,
-                override_flags={"ENCODING": _TELNET_ENCODING})
+        self.init_session(self.protocol_name, client_address, self.factory.sessionhandler)
+        # change encoding to ENCODINGS[0] which reflects Telnet default encoding
+        self.protocol_flags["ENCODING"] = settings.ENCODINGS[0]
 
         # suppress go-ahead
         self.sga = suppress_ga.SuppressGA(self)
diff --git a/evennia/server/session.py b/evennia/server/session.py
index dc816ee59b..96b68662a5 100644
--- a/evennia/server/session.py
+++ b/evennia/server/session.py
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ from builtins import object
 
 import time
 
-
 #------------------------------------------------------------
 # Server Session
 #------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -41,7 +40,7 @@ class Session(object):
                       'conn_time', 'cmd_last', 'cmd_last_visible', 'cmd_total',
                       'protocol_flags', 'server_data', "cmdset_storage_string")
 
-    def init_session(self, protocol_key, address, sessionhandler, override_flags=None):
+    def init_session(self, protocol_key, address, sessionhandler):
         """
         Initialize the Session. This should be called by the protocol when
         a new session is established.
@@ -52,7 +51,6 @@ class Session(object):
             address (str): Client address.
             sessionhandler (SessionHandler): Reference to the
                 main sessionhandler instance.
-        override_flags (optional, dict): a dictionary of protocol flags to override.
 
         """
         # This is currently 'telnet', 'ssh', 'ssl' or 'web'
@@ -88,10 +86,6 @@ class Session(object):
                                "INPUTDEBUG": False,
                                "RAW": False,
                                "NOCOLOR": False}
-
-        if override_flags:
-            self.protocol_flags.update(override_flags)
-
         self.server_data = {}
 
         # map of input data to session methods