diff --git a/rest_framework/authentication.py b/rest_framework/authentication.py
index 223184189..a2ba53480 100644
--- a/rest_framework/authentication.py
+++ b/rest_framework/authentication.py
@@ -74,7 +74,11 @@ class BasicAuthentication(BaseAuthentication):
             raise exceptions.AuthenticationFailed(msg)
 
         try:
-            auth_parts = base64.b64decode(auth[1]).decode('utf-8').partition(':')
+            try:
+                auth_decoded = base64.b64decode(auth[1]).decode('utf-8')
+            except UnicodeDecodeError:
+                auth_decoded = base64.b64decode(auth[1]).decode('latin-1')
+            auth_parts = auth_decoded.partition(':')
         except (TypeError, UnicodeDecodeError, binascii.Error):
             msg = _('Invalid basic header. Credentials not correctly base64 encoded.')
             raise exceptions.AuthenticationFailed(msg)