Index: django/http/__init__.py
===================================================================
--- django/http/__init__.py	(revision 10924)
+++ django/http/__init__.py	(working copy)
@@ -272,14 +272,15 @@
     status_code = 200
 
     def __init__(self, content='', mimetype=None, status=None,
-            content_type=None):
+            content_type=None, charset=None):
         from django.conf import settings
-        self._charset = settings.DEFAULT_CHARSET
+        self._charset = charset
+        if not self._charset:
+            self._charset = settings.DEFAULT_CHARSET
         if mimetype:
             content_type = mimetype     # For backwards compatibility
         if not content_type:
-            content_type = "%s; charset=%s" % (settings.DEFAULT_CONTENT_TYPE,
-                    settings.DEFAULT_CHARSET)
+            content_type = "%s" % settings.DEFAULT_CONTENT_TYPE
         if not isinstance(content, basestring) and hasattr(content, '__iter__'):
             self._container = content
             self._is_string = False