diff --git a/daemon/gvfsbackendftp.c b/daemon/gvfsbackendftp.c
index 5fe056b..daf31f7 100644
--- a/daemon/gvfsbackendftp.c
+++ b/daemon/gvfsbackendftp.c
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ gvfs_backend_ftp_determine_features (GVfsFtpTask *task)
     { "UTF8", G_VFS_FTP_FEATURE_UTF8 },
     { "AUTH TLS", G_VFS_FTP_FEATURE_AUTH_TLS },
     { "AUTH SSL", G_VFS_FTP_FEATURE_AUTH_SSL },
+    { "CLNT", G_VFS_FTP_FEATURE_CLNT }
   };
   guint i, j;
   char **reply;
diff --git a/daemon/gvfsbackendftp.h b/daemon/gvfsbackendftp.h
index f24d413..dd260ac 100644
--- a/daemon/gvfsbackendftp.h
+++ b/daemon/gvfsbackendftp.h
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ typedef enum {
   G_VFS_FTP_FEATURE_AUTH_TLS,
   G_VFS_FTP_FEATURE_AUTH_SSL,
   G_VFS_FTP_FEATURE_CHMOD,
-  G_VFS_FTP_FEATURE_CHGRP
+  G_VFS_FTP_FEATURE_CHGRP,
+  G_VFS_FTP_FEATURE_CLNT
 } GVfsFtpFeature;
 #define G_VFS_FTP_FEATURES_DEFAULT (0)
 
diff --git a/daemon/gvfsftptask.c b/daemon/gvfsftptask.c
index d78e0d5..b7aa303 100644
--- a/daemon/gvfsftptask.c
+++ b/daemon/gvfsftptask.c
@@ -146,6 +146,14 @@ g_vfs_ftp_task_setup_connection (GVfsFtpTask *task)
   g_vfs_ftp_task_clear_error (task);
 #endif
 
+  /* send our user-agent; this is usually optional, but some
+   * servers like Gene6 refuse to enable UTF8 otherwise */
+  if (g_vfs_backend_ftp_has_feature (task->backend, G_VFS_FTP_FEATURE_CLNT))
+    {
+      if (!g_vfs_ftp_task_send (task, 0, "CLNT gvfs/" VERSION))
+        g_vfs_ftp_task_clear_error (task);
+    }
+
   /* instruct server that we'll give and assume we get utf8 */
   if (g_vfs_backend_ftp_has_feature (task->backend, G_VFS_FTP_FEATURE_UTF8))
     {