diff --git a/yamllint/cli.py b/yamllint/cli.py
index 9a39bd8c..fd7b7a3a 100644
--- a/yamllint/cli.py
+++ b/yamllint/cli.py
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ def run(argv=None):
     for file in find_files_recursively(args.files, conf):
         filepath = file[2:] if file.startswith('./') else file
         try:
-            with open(file, newline='') as f:
+            with open(file, newline='', encoding='utf-8') as f:
                 problems = linter.run(f, conf, filepath)
         except OSError as e:
             print(e, file=sys.stderr)