diff --git a/packages/cli/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/cli/CHANGELOG.md
index 263ce01339..5b544c80c2 100644
--- a/packages/cli/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/cli/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 All notable changes to the Zowe CLI package will be documented in this file.
 
+## Recent Changes
+
+- BugFix: Fix bug where encoding is not passed to the Download USS Directory API [#1825](https://github.com/zowe/zowe-cli/issues/1825)
+
 ## `7.18.7`
 
 - BugFix: Bump Imperative to `5.18.2` to fix issues with normalizing newlines on file uploads [#1815](https://github.com/zowe/zowe-cli/issues/1815)
diff --git a/packages/cli/__tests__/zosfiles/__unit__/download/ussdir/UssDir.handler.unit.test.ts b/packages/cli/__tests__/zosfiles/__unit__/download/ussdir/UssDir.handler.unit.test.ts
index 39cc44344a..64857d28ba 100644
--- a/packages/cli/__tests__/zosfiles/__unit__/download/ussdir/UssDir.handler.unit.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/__tests__/zosfiles/__unit__/download/ussdir/UssDir.handler.unit.test.ts
@@ -104,6 +104,76 @@ describe("Download uss dir handler", () => {
             expect(logMessage).toMatchSnapshot();
         });
 
+        it("should download a uss dir in an encoding", async () => {
+            // Require the handler and create a new instance
+            const handlerReq = require("../../../../../src/zosfiles/download/ussdir/UssDir.handler");
+            const handler = new handlerReq.default();
+            const ussDirName = "/z/testingDirectory";
+
+            const localDownloadObj: IDownloadOptions = {...defaultDownloadObj, encoding: "IBM-037"};
+            const localListObj: IUSSListOptions = {...defaultListObj};
+
+            // Vars populated by the mocked function
+            let error;
+            let apiMessage = "";
+            let jsonObj;
+            let logMessage = "";
+            let fakeSession = null;
+
+            Download.ussDir = jest.fn(async (session) => {
+                fakeSession = session;
+                return {
+                    success: true,
+                    commandResponse: "downloaded"
+                };
+            });
+
+            try {
+                // Invoke the handler with a full set of mocked arguments and response functions
+                await handler.process({
+                    arguments: {
+                        $0: "fake",
+                        _: ["fake"],
+                        ussDirName,
+                        encoding: "IBM-037",
+                        ...UNIT_TEST_ZOSMF_PROF_OPTS
+                    },
+                    response: {
+                        data: {
+                            setMessage: jest.fn((setMsgArgs) => {
+                                apiMessage = setMsgArgs;
+                            }),
+                            setObj: jest.fn((setObjArgs) => {
+                                jsonObj = setObjArgs;
+                            })
+                        },
+                        console: {
+                            log: jest.fn((logArgs) => {
+                                logMessage += "\n" + logArgs;
+                            })
+                        },
+                        progress: {
+                            startBar: jest.fn((parms) => {
+                                // do nothing
+                            }),
+                            endBar: jest.fn(() => {
+                                // do nothing
+                            })
+                        }
+                    }
+                } as any);
+            } catch (e) {
+                error = e;
+            }
+
+            expect(error).toBeUndefined();
+            expect(Download.ussDir).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+            expect(Download.ussDir).toHaveBeenCalledWith(fakeSession, ussDirName, localDownloadObj, localListObj);
+            expect(jsonObj).toMatchSnapshot();
+            expect(apiMessage).toMatchSnapshot();
+            expect(logMessage).toMatchSnapshot();
+        });
+
         it("should download a uss dir and look for a particular file", async () => {
             // Require the handler and create a new instance
             const handlerReq = require("../../../../../src/zosfiles/download/ussdir/UssDir.handler");
diff --git a/packages/cli/__tests__/zosfiles/__unit__/download/ussdir/__snapshots__/UssDir.handler.unit.test.ts.snap b/packages/cli/__tests__/zosfiles/__unit__/download/ussdir/__snapshots__/UssDir.handler.unit.test.ts.snap
index 26620955e6..4a6e5cc1b4 100644
--- a/packages/cli/__tests__/zosfiles/__unit__/download/ussdir/__snapshots__/UssDir.handler.unit.test.ts.snap
+++ b/packages/cli/__tests__/zosfiles/__unit__/download/ussdir/__snapshots__/UssDir.handler.unit.test.ts.snap
@@ -153,3 +153,17 @@ exports[`Download uss dir handler process method should download a uss dir if re
 "
 downloaded"
 `;
+
+exports[`Download uss dir handler process method should download a uss dir in an encoding 1`] = `
+Object {
+  "commandResponse": "downloaded",
+  "success": true,
+}
+`;
+
+exports[`Download uss dir handler process method should download a uss dir in an encoding 2`] = `""`;
+
+exports[`Download uss dir handler process method should download a uss dir in an encoding 3`] = `
+"
+downloaded"
+`;
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/zosfiles/download/ussdir/UssDir.handler.ts b/packages/cli/src/zosfiles/download/ussdir/UssDir.handler.ts
index d528546c4d..1b7f3e3f5a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/zosfiles/download/ussdir/UssDir.handler.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/zosfiles/download/ussdir/UssDir.handler.ts
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ export default class UssDirHandler extends ZosFilesBaseHandler {
             failFast: commandParameters.arguments.failFast,
             attributes: zosAttributes,
             includeHidden: commandParameters.arguments.includeHidden,
-            overwrite: commandParameters.arguments.overwrite
+            overwrite: commandParameters.arguments.overwrite,
+            encoding: commandParameters.arguments.encoding
         };
         const listOptions: IUSSListOptions = {
             name: commandParameters.arguments.name ? commandParameters.arguments.name : "*",