diff --git a/OpenChange/SOGoMAPIDBObject.m b/OpenChange/SOGoMAPIDBObject.m
index 0b75270af..7f24c8dd6 100644
--- a/OpenChange/SOGoMAPIDBObject.m
+++ b/OpenChange/SOGoMAPIDBObject.m
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #import <Foundation/NSPropertyList.h>
 #import <Foundation/NSString.h>
 #import <Foundation/NSURL.h>
+#import <Foundation/NSUserDefaults.h>
 #import <Foundation/NSValue.h>
 #import <GDLAccess/EOAdaptor.h>
 #import <GDLAccess/EOAdaptorChannel.h>
@@ -48,6 +49,18 @@
 
 #import "SOGoMAPIDBObject.h"
 
+//
+// This defines the storage for internal properly list, stored in the
+// database. Possible values are:
+//
+// NSPropertyListGNUstepFormat       = 1000
+// NSPropertyListGNUstepBinaryFormat = 1001
+// NSPropertyListOpenStepFormat      = 1
+// NSPropertyListXMLFormat_v1_0      = 100
+// NSPropertyListBinaryFormat_v1_0   = 200
+//
+static NSPropertyListFormat plistFormat;
+
 static EOAttribute *textColumn = nil;
 
 @implementation SOGoMAPIDBObject
@@ -56,6 +69,11 @@ static EOAttribute *textColumn = nil;
 {
   NSDictionary *description;
 
+  plistFormat = [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] integerForKey: @"SOGoPropertyListFormat"];
+
+  if (!plistFormat)
+    plistFormat = NSPropertyListGNUstepBinaryFormat;
+
   if (!textColumn)
     {
       /* TODO: this is a hack for providing an EOAttribute definition that is
@@ -510,7 +528,7 @@ static EOAttribute *textColumn = nil;
     {
       content = [NSPropertyListSerialization
                       dataFromPropertyList: properties
-                                    format: NSPropertyListGNUstepBinaryFormat
+                                    format: plistFormat
                           errorDescription: NULL];
       propsValue = [adaptor formatValue: [content stringByEncodingBase64]
                            forAttribute: textColumn];