diff --git a/src/bin/cargo/commands/tree.rs b/src/bin/cargo/commands/tree.rs
index f466b001b8ce..6d83f8e8e952 100644
--- a/src/bin/cargo/commands/tree.rs
+++ b/src/bin/cargo/commands/tree.rs
@@ -100,6 +100,24 @@ pub fn cli() -> Command {
         ))
 }
 
+#[derive(Copy, Clone)]
+pub enum Charset {
+    Utf8,
+    Ascii,
+}
+
+impl FromStr for Charset {
+    type Err = &'static str;
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Charset, &'static str> {
+        match s {
+            "utf8" => Ok(Charset::Utf8),
+            "ascii" => Ok(Charset::Ascii),
+            _ => Err("invalid charset"),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 pub fn exec(gctx: &mut GlobalContext, args: &ArgMatches) -> CliResult {
     if args.flag("version") {
         let verbose = args.verbose() > 0;
@@ -181,10 +199,16 @@ subtree of the package given to -p.\n\
     }
 
     let charset = args.get_one::<String>("charset");
-    let charset = charset
-        .map(|c| tree::Charset::from_str(c))
+    if let Some(charset) = charset
+        .map(|c| Charset::from_str(c))
         .transpose()
-        .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("{}", e))?;
+        .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("{}", e))?
+    {
+        match charset {
+            Charset::Utf8 => gctx.shell().set_unicode(true)?,
+            Charset::Ascii => gctx.shell().set_unicode(false)?,
+        }
+    }
     let opts = tree::TreeOptions {
         cli_features: args.cli_features()?,
         packages,
@@ -195,7 +219,6 @@ subtree of the package given to -p.\n\
         prefix,
         no_dedupe,
         duplicates: args.flag("duplicates"),
-        charset,
         format: args.get_one::<String>("format").cloned().unwrap(),
         graph_features,
         max_display_depth: args.value_of_u32("depth")?.unwrap_or(u32::MAX),
diff --git a/src/cargo/ops/tree/mod.rs b/src/cargo/ops/tree/mod.rs
index 81f62fcc4479..da502da8ba9f 100644
--- a/src/cargo/ops/tree/mod.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/ops/tree/mod.rs
@@ -39,8 +39,6 @@ pub struct TreeOptions {
     /// appear with different versions, and report if any where found. Implies
     /// `invert`.
     pub duplicates: bool,
-    /// The style of characters to use.
-    pub charset: Option<Charset>,
     /// A format string indicating how each package should be displayed.
     pub format: String,
     /// Includes features in the tree as separate nodes.
@@ -68,24 +66,6 @@ impl Target {
     }
 }
 
-#[derive(Copy, Clone)]
-pub enum Charset {
-    Utf8,
-    Ascii,
-}
-
-impl FromStr for Charset {
-    type Err = &'static str;
-
-    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Charset, &'static str> {
-        match s {
-            "utf8" => Ok(Charset::Utf8),
-            "ascii" => Ok(Charset::Ascii),
-            _ => Err("invalid charset"),
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 #[derive(Clone, Copy)]
 pub enum Prefix {
     None,
@@ -237,16 +217,10 @@ fn print(
     let format = Pattern::new(&opts.format)
         .with_context(|| format!("tree format `{}` not valid", opts.format))?;
 
-    let charset = opts.charset.unwrap_or_else(|| {
-        if gctx.shell().out_unicode() {
-            Charset::Utf8
-        } else {
-            Charset::Ascii
-        }
-    });
-    let symbols = match charset {
-        Charset::Utf8 => &UTF8_SYMBOLS,
-        Charset::Ascii => &ASCII_SYMBOLS,
+    let symbols = if gctx.shell().out_unicode() {
+        &UTF8_SYMBOLS
+    } else {
+        &ASCII_SYMBOLS
     };
 
     // The visited deps is used to display a (*) whenever a dep has