diff --git a/openlp/plugins/songs/lib/olp1import.py b/openlp/plugins/songs/lib/olp1import.py
index 73fc0284b..94a84bc0d 100644
--- a/openlp/plugins/songs/lib/olp1import.py
+++ b/openlp/plugins/songs/lib/olp1import.py
@@ -59,65 +59,50 @@ class OpenLP1SongImport(SongImport):
         SongImport.__init__(self, manager)
         self.import_source = kwargs[u'filename']
 
-    def decode_string(self, raw, encoding):
-        """
-        Use chardet to detect the encoding of the raw string, and convert it
-        to unicode.
-
-        ``raw``
-            The raw bytestring to decode.
-        ``encoding``
-            The bytestring character encoding.
-        """
-        try:
-            decoded = unicode(raw, encoding)
-        except UnicodeDecodeError:
-            log.exception(u'The openlp.org 1.x database is not %s encoded.' % \
-                encoding)
-            decoded = raw
-        return decoded
-
     def do_import(self):
         """
         Run the import for an openlp.org 1.x song database.
         """
         # Connect to the database
-        connection = sqlite.connect(self.import_source)
+        encoding = self.get_encoding()
+        if not encoding:
+            return False
+        connection = sqlite.connect(self.import_source, mode=0555,
+            encoding=(encoding, 'replace'))
         cursor = connection.cursor()
         # Determine if we're using a new or an old DB
         cursor.execute(u'SELECT name FROM sqlite_master '
             u'WHERE type = \'table\' AND name = \'tracks\'')
-        table_list = cursor.fetchall()
-        new_db = len(table_list) > 0
+        new_db = len(cursor.fetchall()) > 0
         # Count the number of records we need to import, for the progress bar
+        cursor.execute(u'-- types int')
         cursor.execute(u'SELECT COUNT(songid) FROM songs')
         count = int(cursor.fetchone()[0])
         success = True
         self.import_wizard.importProgressBar.setMaximum(count)
         # "cache" our list of authors
+        cursor.execute(u'-- types int, unicode')
         cursor.execute(u'SELECT authorid, authorname FROM authors')
         authors = cursor.fetchall()
         if new_db:
             # "cache" our list of tracks
+            cursor.execute(u'-- types int, unicode')
             cursor.execute(u'SELECT trackid, fulltrackname FROM tracks')
             tracks = cursor.fetchall()
         # Import the songs
+        cursor.execute(u'-- types int, unicode, unicode, unicode')
         cursor.execute(u'SELECT songid, songtitle, lyrics || \'\' AS lyrics, '
             u'copyrightinfo FROM songs')
         songs = cursor.fetchall()
-        encoding = self.get_encoding()
-        if not encoding:
-            self.stop_import_flag = True
-            return False
         for song in songs:
             self.set_defaults()
             if self.stop_import_flag:
                 success = False
                 break
             song_id = song[0]
-            title = self.decode_string(song[1], encoding)
-            lyrics = self.decode_string(song[2], encoding).replace(u'\r', u'')
-            copyright = self.decode_string(song[3], encoding)
+            title = song[1]
+            lyrics = song[2].replace(u'\r\n', u'\n')
+            copyright = song[3]
             self.import_wizard.incrementProgressBar(
                 unicode(translate('SongsPlugin.ImportWizardForm',
                     'Importing "%s"...')) % title)
@@ -127,6 +112,7 @@ class OpenLP1SongImport(SongImport):
                 if verse.strip() != u'':
                     self.add_verse(verse.strip())
             self.add_copyright(copyright)
+            cursor.execute(u'-- types int')
             cursor.execute(u'SELECT authorid FROM songauthors '
                 u'WHERE songid = %s' % song_id)
             author_ids = cursor.fetchall()
@@ -136,12 +122,13 @@ class OpenLP1SongImport(SongImport):
                     break
                 for author in authors:
                     if author[0] == author_id[0]:
-                        self.parse_author(self.decode_string(author[1], encoding))
+                        self.parse_author(author[1])
                         break
             if self.stop_import_flag:
                 success = False
                 break
             if new_db:
+                cursor.execute(u'-- types int')
                 cursor.execute(u'SELECT trackid FROM songtracks '
                     u'WHERE songid = %s ORDER BY listindex' % song_id)
                 track_ids = cursor.fetchall()
@@ -151,7 +138,7 @@ class OpenLP1SongImport(SongImport):
                         break
                     for track in tracks:
                         if track[0] == track_id[0]:
-                            self.add_media_file(self.decode_string(track[1], encoding))
+                            self.add_media_file(track[1])
                             break
             if self.stop_import_flag:
                 success = False