diff --git a/kitty/config.py b/kitty/config.py
index 0f2bf4ac8..f5cd7d84e 100644
--- a/kitty/config.py
+++ b/kitty/config.py
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ def load_config(*paths, overrides=None) -> Options:
         if not path:
             continue
         try:
-            f = open(path)
+            f = open(path, encoding='utf-8')
         except FileNotFoundError:
             continue
         with f: