diff --git a/extrakto.py b/extrakto.py
index a0e36d1..4db8eef 100755
--- a/extrakto.py
+++ b/extrakto.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def __init__(self, *, min_length=None, alt=False, prefix_name=False):
             os.path.expanduser("~/.config"), "extrakto/extrakto.conf"
         )
 
-        conf.read([default_conf, user_conf])
+        conf.read([default_conf, user_conf], encoding="utf-8")
         sections = conf.sections()
 
         if not "path" in sections or not "url" in sections:
diff --git a/extrakto_plugin.py b/extrakto_plugin.py
index 6dade8f..4e91907 100755
--- a/extrakto_plugin.py
+++ b/extrakto_plugin.py
@@ -238,6 +238,7 @@ def capture_panes(self):
                 self.trigger_pane,
             ],
             universal_newlines=True,
+            encoding="utf-8",
         )
         return captured