diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 508824955..ab397e1cf 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from setuptools import find_packages, setup, Extension
 
 def read(rel_path: str) -> str:
     here = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
-    with open(os.path.join(here, rel_path)) as fp:
+    with open(os.path.join(here, rel_path), encoding="utf-8") as fp:
         return fp.read()