diff -ru xemacs-21.5.28.20080401.orig//lisp/bytecomp.el xemacs-21.5.28.20080401/lisp/bytecomp.el
--- xemacs-21.5.28.20080401.orig//lisp/bytecomp.el	2008-04-01 19:40:35.000000000 +0200
+++ xemacs-21.5.28.20080401/lisp/bytecomp.el	2008-10-29 12:48:15.000000000 +0100
@@ -1618,7 +1618,10 @@
 	(unless byte-compile-overwrite-file
 	  (ignore-file-errors (delete-file target-file)))
 	(if (file-writable-p target-file)
-	    (write-region 1 (point-max) target-file)
+           ;; prevent generic hooks from changing our format, eg,
+           ;; latin-unity is known to change the coding system!
+           (let ((write-region-pre-hook nil))
+             (write-region 1 (point-max) target-file))
 	  ;; This is just to give a better error message than write-region
 	  (signal 'file-error
 		  (list "Opening output file"