diff --git a/image-recipe/build-auto-installer-iso.sh b/image-recipe/build-auto-installer-iso.sh
index 74e45b3d..ee119b1f 100755
--- a/image-recipe/build-auto-installer-iso.sh
+++ b/image-recipe/build-auto-installer-iso.sh
@@ -231,7 +231,9 @@ ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
 RUN echo "keyboard-configuration keyboard-configuration/layoutcode string us" | debconf-set-selections && \
     echo "keyboard-configuration keyboard-configuration/model select Generic 105-key PC" | debconf-set-selections && \
     echo "console-setup console-setup/charmap47 select UTF-8" | debconf-set-selections && \
-    echo "console-setup console-setup/codeset47 select Guess optimal character set" | debconf-set-selections
+    echo "console-setup console-setup/codeset47 select Uni2" | debconf-set-selections && \
+    echo "console-setup console-setup/fontface47 select Terminus" | debconf-set-selections && \
+    echo "console-setup console-setup/fontsize-fb47 select 16" | debconf-set-selections
 
 # Enable non-free-firmware repo — replace DEB822 sources with traditional format
 # (DEB822 sed was silently failing, so just overwrite with known-good sources.list)
@@ -1989,6 +1991,15 @@ fi
 PROFILE
 chmod +x /mnt/target/etc/profile.d/archipelago.sh
 
+# Force UTF-8 console with Terminus font (supports Unicode block chars for ASCII logo)
+cat > /mnt/target/etc/default/console-setup <<'CONSOLESETUP'
+ACTIVE_CONSOLES="/dev/tty[1-6]"
+CHARMAP="UTF-8"
+CODESET="Uni2"
+FONTFACE="Terminus"
+FONTSIZE="16"
+CONSOLESETUP
+
 # Suppress default Debian MOTD (our profile.d script handles the welcome)
 echo -n > /mnt/target/etc/motd
 rm -f /mnt/target/etc/motd.d/* 2>/dev/null || true