diff --git a/openlp/core/ui/advancedtab.py b/openlp/core/ui/advancedtab.py
index 2d6b534c4..0276fcebc 100644
--- a/openlp/core/ui/advancedtab.py
+++ b/openlp/core/ui/advancedtab.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ import sys
 from openlp.core.lib import SettingsTab, translate, build_icon,  Receiver
 from openlp.core.lib.settings import Settings
 from openlp.core.lib.ui import UiStrings
-from openlp.core.utils import get_images_filter, AppLocation
+from openlp.core.utils import get_images_filter, AppLocation, format_time
 from openlp.core.lib import SlideLimits
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -622,7 +622,7 @@ class AdvancedTab(SettingsTab):
             time = time.replace(hour = self.serviceNameTime.time().hour(),
                 minute = self.serviceNameTime.time().minute())
         try:
-            service_name_example = time.strftime(unicode(
+            service_name_example = format_time(unicode(
                 self.serviceNameEdit.text()))
         except ValueError:
             preset_is_valid = False
diff --git a/openlp/core/ui/servicemanager.py b/openlp/core/ui/servicemanager.py
index d49c988c6..0dc4ef864 100644
--- a/openlp/core/ui/servicemanager.py
+++ b/openlp/core/ui/servicemanager.py
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@ from openlp.core.lib.ui import UiStrings, critical_error_message_box, \
     create_widget_action, find_and_set_in_combo_box
 from openlp.core.ui import ServiceNoteForm, ServiceItemEditForm, StartTimeForm
 from openlp.core.ui.printserviceform import PrintServiceForm
-from openlp.core.utils import AppLocation, delete_file, split_filename
+from openlp.core.utils import AppLocation, delete_file, split_filename, \
+    format_time
 from openlp.core.utils.actions import ActionList, CategoryOrder
 
 class ServiceManagerList(QtGui.QTreeWidget):
@@ -621,7 +622,7 @@ class ServiceManager(QtGui.QWidget):
                     '/\\?*|<>\[\]":+\nSee http://docs.python.org/library/'
                     'datetime.html#strftime-strptime-behavior for more '
                     'information.')).toString())
-            default_filename = time.strftime(default_pattern)
+            default_filename = format_time(default_pattern)
         else:
             default_filename = u''
         directory = unicode(SettingsManager.get_last_dir(
diff --git a/openlp/core/utils/__init__.py b/openlp/core/utils/__init__.py
index 224ab4344..393916408 100644
--- a/openlp/core/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/openlp/core/utils/__init__.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import os
 import re
 from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
 import sys
+import time
 import urllib2
 
 from openlp.core.lib.settings import Settings
@@ -469,10 +470,24 @@ def get_uno_instance(resolver):
         return resolver.resolve(u'uno:socket,host=localhost,port=2002;' \
             + u'urp;StarOffice.ComponentContext')
 
+
+def format_time(text):
+    """
+    Workaround for Python built-in time formatting fuction time.strftime().
+
+    time.strftime() accepts only ascii characters. This function accepts
+    unicode string and passes individual % placeholders to time.strftime().
+    This ensures only ascii characters are passed to time.strftime().
+    """
+    def match_formatting(match):
+        return time.strftime(match.group())
+    return re.sub('\%[a-zA-Z]', match_formatting, text)
+
+
 from languagemanager import LanguageManager
 from actions import ActionList
 
 __all__ = [u'AppLocation', u'get_application_version', u'check_latest_version',
     u'add_actions', u'get_filesystem_encoding', u'LanguageManager',
     u'ActionList', u'get_web_page', u'get_uno_command', u'get_uno_instance',
-    u'delete_file', u'clean_filename']
+    u'delete_file', u'clean_filename', u'format_time']