diff --git a/nostr_dvm/dvm.py b/nostr_dvm/dvm.py
index 01c4d15..49a7bb1 100644
--- a/nostr_dvm/dvm.py
+++ b/nostr_dvm/dvm.py
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ class DVM:
                                 await run_subprocess(python_bin, dvm_config, request_form)
                                 print("Finished processing, loading data..")
 
-                                with open(os.path.abspath('output.txt')) as f:
+                                with open(os.path.abspath('output.txt'), encoding="utf-8") as f:
                                     resultall = f.readlines()
                                     for line in resultall:
                                         if line != '\n':
diff --git a/nostr_dvm/interfaces/dvmtaskinterface.py b/nostr_dvm/interfaces/dvmtaskinterface.py
index bc36330..5674889 100644
--- a/nostr_dvm/interfaces/dvmtaskinterface.py
+++ b/nostr_dvm/interfaces/dvmtaskinterface.py
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ class DVMTaskInterface:
 
     @staticmethod
     def write_output(result, output):
-        with open(os.path.abspath(output), 'w') as f:
+        with open(os.path.abspath(output), 'w',  encoding="utf8") as f:
             f.write(result)
         # f.close()
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 22781c2..7f113e3 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
 
-VERSION = '0.6.22'
+VERSION = '0.6.23'
 DESCRIPTION = 'A framework to build and run Nostr NIP90 Data Vending Machines'
 LONG_DESCRIPTION = ('A framework to build and run Nostr NIP90 Data Vending Machines. See the github repository for more information')