diff --git a/app/helpers/tags_helper.rb b/app/helpers/tags_helper.rb
index f55ac0d..f142afa 100644
--- a/app/helpers/tags_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/tags_helper.rb
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@ module TagsHelper
   #
   # <tt>options</tt> can include one or more of the following:
   #
-  # * <tt>:max_size</tt>: font size for the tag with largest count 
-  # * <tt>:min_size</tt>: font size for the tag with smallest count 
+  # * <tt>:max_size</tt>: font size for the tag with largest count
+  # * <tt>:min_size</tt>: font size for the tag with smallest count
   # * <tt>:show_count</tt>: whether to show the count of contents for each tag.   Defauls to <tt>false</tt>.
-  # 
+  #
   # The algorithm for generating the different sizes and positions is a
-  # courtesy of Aurelio: http://www.colivre.coop.br/Aurium/Nuvem 
+  # courtesy of Aurelio: http://www.colivre.coop.br/Aurium/Nuvem
   # (pt_BR only).
   def tag_cloud(tags, tagname_option, url, options = {})
 
@@ -41,7 +41,15 @@ module TagsHelper
     max = tags.values.max.to_f
     min = tags.values.min.to_f
 
-    tags.sort_by{ |k,v| k.downcase }.map do |tag,count|
+    # Uses iconv to translate utf8 strings to ascii.
+    # If can't translate a character, ignore it.
+    require 'iconv'
+    utf8_to_ascii = Iconv.new("ASCII//TRANSLIT//IGNORE","UTF8")
+    # Sorts first based on translated strings and then, if they are equal, based on the original form.
+    # This way variant characters falls on the same level as their base characters and don't end up
+    # at the end of the tag list.
+    # Example: AA ÁA AB Z instead of AA AB Z ÁA
+    tags.collect{ |k,v| [utf8_to_ascii.iconv(k).downcase, [k,v]] }.sort.collect { |ascii, t| t }.map do |tag,count|
       if ( max == min )
         v = 0.5
       else
diff --git a/test/unit/tags_helper_test.rb b/test/unit/tags_helper_test.rb
index da5f0ae..e6aa1d7 100644
--- a/test/unit/tags_helper_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/tags_helper_test.rb
@@ -18,4 +18,14 @@ class TagsHelperTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal %w(aTag beTag tag1 Tag2 Tag3).join("\n"), result
   end
 
+  should 'order tags alphabetically with special characters' do
+    result = tag_cloud(
+      { 'aula'=>9, 'área'=>2, 'area'=>2, 'avião'=>2, 'armário'=>2,
+        'A'=>1, 'Á'=>1, 'AB'=>1, 'ÁA'=>1 },
+      :id,
+      { :host=>'noosfero.org', :controller=>'test', :action=>'tag' }
+    )
+    assert_equal %w(A Á ÁA AB area área armário aula avião).join("\n"), result
+  end
+
 end
--
libgit2 0.21.2