diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 00041d2..1296a9b 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ def dependencies(imported_file):
         return file.read().splitlines()
 
 
-with open("README.md") as file:
+with open("README.md", encoding="utf-8") as file:
     num_installed = True
     try:
         import numpy