diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 # Generated by jaraco.develop (https://bitbucket.org/jaraco/jaraco.develop)
 import setuptools
 
-with open('README.txt') as readme:
+with open('README.txt', encoding='utf-8') as readme:
 	long_description = readme.read()
-with open('CHANGES.txt') as changes:
+with open('CHANGES.txt', encoding='utf-8') as changes:
 	long_description += '\n\n' + changes.read()
 
 setup_params = dict(
Seems some platforms (*glares at Ubuntu*) have Python <I> default to ASCII. It's a sad, sad day for text.