diff --git a/mysql-test/r/ctype_utf8.result b/mysql-test/r/ctype_utf8.result
index 64c693a292a..48ff82aeeb2 100644
--- a/mysql-test/r/ctype_utf8.result
+++ b/mysql-test/r/ctype_utf8.result
@@ -955,6 +955,10 @@ char_length(a)	length(a)	a
 2	4	ан
 drop table t1;
 set names utf8;
+select 'andre%' like 'andreñ%' escape 'ñ';
+'andre%' like 'andreñ%' escape 'ñ'
+1
+set names utf8;
 select 'a\\' like 'a\\';
 'a\\' like 'a\\'
 1
diff --git a/mysql-test/r/func_like.result b/mysql-test/r/func_like.result
index ac8e5eda8e8..7e6fedb9403 100644
--- a/mysql-test/r/func_like.result
+++ b/mysql-test/r/func_like.result
@@ -158,3 +158,10 @@ DROP TABLE t1;
 select _cp866'aaaaaaaaa' like _cp866'%aaaa%' collate cp866_bin;
 _cp866'aaaaaaaaa' like _cp866'%aaaa%' collate cp866_bin
 1
+set names koi8r;
+select 'andre%' like 'andreÊ%' escape 'Ê';
+'andre%' like 'andreÊ%' escape 'Ê'
+1
+select _cp1251'andre%' like convert('andreÊ%' using cp1251)  escape 'Ê';
+_cp1251'andre%' like convert('andreÊ%' using cp1251)  escape 'Ê'
+1
diff --git a/mysql-test/t/ctype_utf8.test b/mysql-test/t/ctype_utf8.test
index ce259f465d9..041451272d4 100644
--- a/mysql-test/t/ctype_utf8.test
+++ b/mysql-test/t/ctype_utf8.test
@@ -810,6 +810,12 @@ alter table t1 modify a char(2) character set utf8;
 select char_length(a), length(a), a from t1 order by a;
 drop table t1;
 
+#
+# Bugs#12611
+# ESCAPE + LIKE do not work when the escape char is a multibyte one
+#
+set names utf8;
+select 'andre%' like 'andreñ%' escape 'ñ';
 
 #
 # Bugs#11754: SET NAMES utf8 followed by SELECT "A\\" LIKE "A\\" returns 0
diff --git a/mysql-test/t/func_like.test b/mysql-test/t/func_like.test
index 684d7032038..4e1183afeff 100644
--- a/mysql-test/t/func_like.test
+++ b/mysql-test/t/func_like.test
@@ -96,4 +96,21 @@ DROP TABLE t1;
 #
 select _cp866'aaaaaaaaa' like _cp866'%aaaa%' collate cp866_bin;
 
+#
+# Check 8bit escape character
+#
+set names koi8r;
+select 'andre%' like 'andreÊ%' escape 'Ê';
+
+# Check 8bit escape character with charset conversion:
+# For "a LIKE b ESCAPE c" expressions,
+# escape character is converted into the operation character set,
+# which is result of aggregation  of character sets of "a" and "b".
+# "c" itself doesn't take part in aggregation, because its collation
+# doesn't matter, escape character is always compared binary.
+# In the example below, escape character is converted from koi8r into cp1251:
+#
+select _cp1251'andre%' like convert('andreÊ%' using cp1251)  escape 'Ê';
+
+#
 # End of 4.1 tests
diff --git a/sql/item_cmpfunc.cc b/sql/item_cmpfunc.cc
index cc2849ff7e6..31bfa9ba3b7 100644
--- a/sql/item_cmpfunc.cc
+++ b/sql/item_cmpfunc.cc
@@ -2811,7 +2811,42 @@ bool Item_func_like::fix_fields(THD *thd, Item **ref)
   {
     /* If we are on execution stage */
     String *escape_str= escape_item->val_str(&tmp_value1);
-    escape= escape_str ? *(escape_str->ptr()) : '\\';
+    if (escape_str)
+    {
+      CHARSET_INFO *cs= cmp.cmp_collation.collation;
+      if (use_mb(cs))
+      {
+        my_wc_t wc;
+        int rc= cs->cset->mb_wc(cs, &wc,
+                                (const uchar*) escape_str->ptr(),
+                                (const uchar*) escape_str->ptr() +
+                                               escape_str->length());
+        escape= (int) (rc > 0 ? wc : '\\');
+      }
+      else
+      {
+        /*
+          In the case of 8bit character set, we pass native
+          code instead of Unicode code as "escape" argument.
+          Convert to "cs" if charset of escape differs.
+        */
+        uint32 unused;
+        if (escape_str->needs_conversion(escape_str->length(),
+                                         escape_str->charset(), cs, &unused))
+        {
+          char ch;
+          uint errors;
+          uint32 cnvlen= copy_and_convert(&ch, 1, cs, escape_str->ptr(),
+                                          escape_str->length(),
+                                          escape_str->charset(), &errors);
+          escape= cnvlen ? ch : '\\';
+        }
+        else
+          escape= *(escape_str->ptr());
+      }
+    }
+    else
+      escape= '\\';
 
     /*
       We could also do boyer-more for non-const items, but as we would have to
diff --git a/sql/item_cmpfunc.h b/sql/item_cmpfunc.h
index 1915dbaabf6..0609adce7f0 100644
--- a/sql/item_cmpfunc.h
+++ b/sql/item_cmpfunc.h
@@ -966,7 +966,7 @@ class Item_func_like :public Item_bool_func2
   Item *escape_item;
 
 public:
-  char escape;
+  int escape;
 
   Item_func_like(Item *a,Item *b, Item *escape_arg)
     :Item_bool_func2(a,b), canDoTurboBM(FALSE), pattern(0), pattern_len(0),