diff --git a/IPython/core/tests/nonascii2.py b/IPython/core/tests/nonascii2.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1afce4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/IPython/core/tests/nonascii2.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# coding: iso-8859-5
+# (Unlikely to be the default encoding for most testers.)
+# БЖџрстуфхцчшщъыьэюя <- Cyrillic characters
+'Ўт№Ф'
diff --git a/IPython/core/tests/test_oinspect.py b/IPython/core/tests/test_oinspect.py
index eb01105..2e5e13c 100644
--- a/IPython/core/tests/test_oinspect.py
+++ b/IPython/core/tests/test_oinspect.py
@@ -288,3 +288,9 @@ def test_pdef():
     # See gh-1914
     def foo(): pass
     inspector.pdef(foo, 'foo')
+
+def test_pinfo_nonascii():
+    # See gh-1177
+    from . import nonascii2
+    ip.user_ns['nonascii2'] = nonascii2
+    ip._inspect('pinfo', 'nonascii2', detail_level=1)