diff --git a/mysql-test/suite/rpl/r/rpl_special_charset.result b/mysql-test/suite/rpl/r/rpl_special_charset.result
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2aa1fe01da4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mysql-test/suite/rpl/r/rpl_special_charset.result
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+include/master-slave.inc
+[connection master]
+CREATE TABLE t1(i VARCHAR(20));
+INSERT INTO t1 VALUES (0xFFFF);
+include/diff_tables.inc [master:t1, slave:t1]
+DROP TABLE t1;
+include/rpl_end.inc
diff --git a/mysql-test/suite/rpl/t/rpl_special_charset-master.opt b/mysql-test/suite/rpl/t/rpl_special_charset-master.opt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b071fb20845
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mysql-test/suite/rpl/t/rpl_special_charset-master.opt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+--character-set-server=utf16
diff --git a/mysql-test/suite/rpl/t/rpl_special_charset-slave.opt b/mysql-test/suite/rpl/t/rpl_special_charset-slave.opt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b071fb20845
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mysql-test/suite/rpl/t/rpl_special_charset-slave.opt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+--character-set-server=utf16
diff --git a/mysql-test/suite/rpl/t/rpl_special_charset.test b/mysql-test/suite/rpl/t/rpl_special_charset.test
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9b51eba8d5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mysql-test/suite/rpl/t/rpl_special_charset.test
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+################################################################################
+# Bug#19855907 IO THREAD AUTHENTICATION ISSUE WITH SOME CHARACTER SETS
+# Problem: IO thread fails to connect to master if servers are configured with
+#  special character sets like utf16, utf32, ucs2.
+#
+# Analysis: MySQL server does not support few special character sets like
+#  utf16,utf32 and ucs2 as "client's character set"(eg: utf16,utf32, ucs2).
+#  When IO thread is trying to connect to Master, it sets server's character
+#  set as client's character set. When Slave server is started with these
+#  special character sets, IO thread (a connection to Master) fails because
+#  of the above said reason.
+#
+# Fix: If server's character set is not supported as client's character set,
+#  then set default's client character set(latin1) as client's character set.
+###############################################################################
+--source include/master-slave.inc
+CREATE TABLE t1(i VARCHAR(20));
+INSERT INTO t1 VALUES (0xFFFF);
+--sync_slave_with_master
+--let diff_tables=master:t1, slave:t1
+--source include/diff_tables.inc
+# Cleanup
+--connection master
+DROP TABLE t1;
+--source include/rpl_end.inc
diff --git a/sql/slave.cc b/sql/slave.cc
index 23460c1af63..d97a9cdf6e9 100644
--- a/sql/slave.cc
+++ b/sql/slave.cc
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (c) 2000, 2014, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+/* Copyright (c) 2000, 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
 
    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -4280,7 +4280,23 @@ static int connect_to_master(THD* thd, MYSQL* mysql, Master_info* mi,
   }
 #endif
 
-  mysql_options(mysql, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME, default_charset_info->csname);
+  /*
+    If server's default charset is not supported (like utf16, utf32) as client
+    charset, then set client charset to 'latin1' (default client charset).
+  */
+  if (is_supported_parser_charset(default_charset_info))
+    mysql_options(mysql, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME, default_charset_info->csname);
+  else
+  {
+    sql_print_information("'%s' can not be used as client character set. "
+                          "'%s' will be used as default client character set "
+                          "while connecting to master.",
+                          default_charset_info->csname,
+                          default_client_charset_info->csname);
+    mysql_options(mysql, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME,
+                  default_client_charset_info->csname);
+  }
+
   /* This one is not strictly needed but we have it here for completeness */
   mysql_options(mysql, MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_DIR, (char *) charsets_dir);