diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ad45084..195b8ba 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ def download_java_files(force=False):
     name='zxing',
     version=version_pep,
     description="Wrapper for decoding/reading barcodes with ZXing (Zebra Crossing) library",
-    long_description=open('README.md').read(),
+    long_description=open('README.md', encoding='utf-8').read(),
     long_description_content_type='text/markdown',
     url="https://github.com/dlenski/python-zxing",
     author='Daniel Lenski',