diff --git a/webpack_loader/loader.py b/webpack_loader/loader.py
index 6b725641..dd57a436 100644
--- a/webpack_loader/loader.py
+++ b/webpack_loader/loader.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def __init__(self, name='DEFAULT'):
 
     def _load_assets(self):
         try:
-            with open(self.config['STATS_FILE']) as f:
+            with open(self.config['STATS_FILE'], encoding="utf-8") as f:
                 return json.load(f)
         except IOError:
             raise IOError(