diff --git a/src/log4net.Tests/Appender/OutputDebugAppenderTest.cs b/src/log4net.Tests/Appender/OutputDebugAppenderTest.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9659244c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/log4net.Tests/Appender/OutputDebugAppenderTest.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#region Apache License
+//
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more 
+// contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+// this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership. 
+// The ASF licenses this file to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+// (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with 
+// the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+//
+#endregion
+
+
+using System;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+
+using log4net.Appender;
+using log4net.Config;
+using log4net.Core;
+using log4net.Layout;
+using log4net.Repository;
+using NUnit.Framework;
+
+namespace log4net.Tests.Appender;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Used for internal unit testing the <see cref="OutputDebugStringAppender"/> class.
+/// </summary>
+/// <remarks>
+/// Used for internal unit testing the <see cref="OutputDebugStringAppender"/> class.
+/// </remarks>
+[TestFixture]
+[Platform(Include = "Win")]
+public sealed class OutputDebugStringAppenderTest
+{
+  /// <summary>
+  /// Verifies that the OutputDebugString api is called by the appender without issues
+  /// </summary>
+  [Test]
+  public void AppendShouldNotCauseAnyErrors()
+  {
+    ILoggerRepository rep = LogManager.CreateRepository(Guid.NewGuid().ToString());
+
+    OutputDebugStringAppender outputDebugStringAppender = new()
+    {
+      Layout = new SimpleLayout(),
+      ErrorHandler = new FailOnError()
+    };
+    outputDebugStringAppender.ActivateOptions();
+
+    BasicConfigurator.Configure(rep, outputDebugStringAppender);
+
+    ILog log = LogManager.GetLogger(rep.Name, GetType());
+    log.Debug("Message - Сообщение - הודעה");
+
+    // need a way to check that the api is actually called and the string is properly marshalled.
+  }
+}
+
+class FailOnError : IErrorHandler
+{
+  public void Error(string message, Exception? e, ErrorCode errorCode) => Assert.Fail($"Unexpected error: {message} exception: {e}, errorCode: {errorCode}");
+  public void Error(string message, Exception e) => Assert.Fail($"Unexpected error: {message} exception: {e}");
+  public void Error(string message) =>  Assert.Fail($"Unexpected error: {message}");
+}
diff --git a/src/log4net/Util/NativeMethods.cs b/src/log4net/Util/NativeMethods.cs
index 88e43c4c..96ca8918 100644
--- a/src/log4net/Util/NativeMethods.cs
+++ b/src/log4net/Util/NativeMethods.cs
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ internal static extern int FormatMessage(
     /// Stub for OutputDebugString native method
     /// </summary>
     /// <param name="message">the string to output</param>
-    [DllImport("Kernel32.dll")]
+    [DllImport("Kernel32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]    
     [DefaultDllImportSearchPaths(DllImportSearchPath.System32)]
     internal static extern void OutputDebugString(string message);