diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0a0f7a601..696177dc5 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from setuptools import setup
 from setuptools import find_packages
 
 
-with open("README.md", "r") as fp:
+with open("README.md", "r", encoding="utf-8") as fp:
     long_description = fp.read()