diff --git a/wcs/qommon/publisher.py b/wcs/qommon/publisher.py
index 58c637437..19e681ba7 100644
--- a/wcs/qommon/publisher.py
+++ b/wcs/qommon/publisher.py
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ class QommonPublisher(Publisher, object):
         if not os.path.exists(site_options_filename):
             return
         try:
-            self.site_options.read(site_options_filename)
+            self.site_options.read(site_options_filename, encoding='utf-8')
         except:
             self.get_app_logger().error('failed to read site options file')
             return