diff --git a/cme/protocols/smb.py b/cme/protocols/smb.py
index 6158c876..e5fe174d 100755
--- a/cme/protocols/smb.py
+++ b/cme/protocols/smb.py
@@ -180,6 +180,11 @@ class smb(connection):
 
         cgroup = smb_parser.add_argument_group("Command Execution", "Options for executing commands")
         cgroup.add_argument('--exec-method', choices={"wmiexec", "mmcexec", "smbexec", "atexec"}, default=None, help="method to execute the command. Ignored if in MSSQL mode (default: wmiexec)")
+        cgroup.add_argument('--codec', default='utf-8', help='Set encoding used (codec) from the target\'s output (default '
+                                                             '"utf-8"). If errors are detected, run chcp.com at the target, '
+                                                             'map the result with '
+                                                             'https://docs.python.org/3/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings and then execute '
+                                                             'again with --codec and the corresponding codec')
         cgroup.add_argument('--force-ps32', action='store_true', help='force the PowerShell command to run in a 32-bit process')
         cgroup.add_argument('--no-output', action='store_true', help='do not retrieve command output')
         cegroup = cgroup.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
@@ -560,7 +565,16 @@ class smb(connection):
 
         if hasattr(self, 'server'): self.server.track_host(self.host)
 
-        output = u'{}'.format(exec_method.execute(payload, get_output).strip())
+        output = exec_method.execute(payload, get_output)
+
+        try:
+            if not isinstance(output, str):
+                output = output.decode(self.args.codec)
+        except UnicodeDecodeError:
+            logging.debug('Decoding error detected, consider running chcp.com at the target, map the result with https://docs.python.org/3/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings')
+            output = output.decode('cp437')
+
+        output = u'{}'.format(output.strip())
 
         if self.args.execute or self.args.ps_execute:
             self.logger.success('Executed command {}'.format('via {}'.format(self.args.exec_method) if self.args.exec_method else ''))
diff --git a/cme/protocols/smb/atexec.py b/cme/protocols/smb/atexec.py
index 49a6de18..8f05af1a 100755
--- a/cme/protocols/smb/atexec.py
+++ b/cme/protocols/smb/atexec.py
@@ -42,13 +42,7 @@ class TSCH_EXEC:
     def execute(self, command, output=False):
         self.__retOutput = output
         self.execute_handler(command)
-        try:
-            if isinstance(self.__outputBuffer, str):
-                return self.__outputBuffer
-            return self.__outputBuffer.decode()
-        except UnicodeDecodeError:
-            logging.debug('Decoding error detected, consider running chcp.com at the target, map the result with https://docs.python.org/3/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings')
-            return self.__outputBuffer.decode('cp437')
+        return self.__outputBuffer
 
     def output_callback(self, data):
         self.__outputBuffer = data
diff --git a/cme/protocols/smb/mmcexec.py b/cme/protocols/smb/mmcexec.py
index c9536fa2..7d98e0b5 100644
--- a/cme/protocols/smb/mmcexec.py
+++ b/cme/protocols/smb/mmcexec.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class MMCEXEC:
         self.__nthash = ''
         self.__share_name = share_name
         self.__output = None
-        self.__outputBuffer = ''
+        self.__outputBuffer = b''
         self.__shell = 'c:\\windows\\system32\\cmd.exe'
         self.__pwd = 'C:\\'
         self.__quit = None
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ class MMCEXEC:
         self.get_output_fileless()
 
     def output_callback(self, data):
-        self.__outputBuffer += data.decode("utf-8") 
+        self.__outputBuffer += data
 
     def get_output_fileless(self):
         if not self.__retOutput: return
diff --git a/cme/protocols/smb/smbexec.py b/cme/protocols/smb/smbexec.py
index cad26385..f14ec5b9 100755
--- a/cme/protocols/smb/smbexec.py
+++ b/cme/protocols/smb/smbexec.py
@@ -76,13 +76,7 @@ class SMBEXEC:
         else:
             self.execute_remote(command)
         self.finish()
-        try:
-            if isinstance(self.__outputBuffer, str):
-                return self.__outputBuffer
-            return self.__outputBuffer.decode()
-        except UnicodeDecodeError:
-            logging.debug('Decoding error detected, consider running chcp.com at the target, map the result with https://docs.python.org/3/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings')
-            return self.__outputBuffer.decode('cp437')
+        return self.__outputBuffer
         
 
     def output_callback(self, data):
diff --git a/cme/protocols/smb/wmiexec.py b/cme/protocols/smb/wmiexec.py
index b9366218..90907d06 100755
--- a/cme/protocols/smb/wmiexec.py
+++ b/cme/protocols/smb/wmiexec.py
@@ -55,13 +55,7 @@ class WMIEXEC:
         else:
             self.execute_handler(command)
         self.__dcom.disconnect()
-        try:
-            if isinstance(self.__outputBuffer, str):
-                return self.__outputBuffer
-            return self.__outputBuffer.decode()
-        except UnicodeDecodeError:
-            logging.debug('Decoding error detected, consider running chcp.com at the target, map the result with https://docs.python.org/3/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings')
-            return self.__outputBuffer.decode('cp437')
+        return self.__outputBuffer
 
     def cd(self, s):
         self.execute_remote('cd ' + s)