diff --git a/libs/url/builder.ts b/libs/url/builder.ts
index 5aea385..68cb536 100644
--- a/libs/url/builder.ts
+++ b/libs/url/builder.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,19 @@ const SIGNATURE_PARAMETER: string = "ik-s";
 const TIMESTAMP_PARAMETER: string = "ik-t";
 const DEFAULT_TIMESTAMP: string = "9999999999";
 
+//used to check if special char is present in string (you'll need to encode it to utf-8 if it does)
+const hasMoreThanAscii = (str: string) => {
+	return str.split('').some((char) => char.charCodeAt(0) > 127);
+}
+
+const customEncodeURI = (str: string) => {
+  return str.includes("?") ? `${encodeURI(str.split("?")[0])}?${str.split("?")[1]}` : encodeURI(str);
+};
+
+export const encodeStringIfRequired = (str: string) => {
+	return hasMoreThanAscii(str) ? customEncodeURI(str) : str;
+}
+
 const buildURL = function (opts: FinalUrlOptions): string {
   //Create correct query parameters
   var parsedURL: UrlWithStringQuery;
@@ -160,9 +173,10 @@ function getSignatureTimestamp(seconds: number): string {
   return String(currentTimestamp + sec);
 }
 
-function getSignature(opts: any) {
+export function getSignature(opts: any) {
   if (!opts.privateKey || !opts.url || !opts.urlEndpoint) return "";
   var stringToSign = opts.url.replace(urlFormatter.addTrailingSlash(opts.urlEndpoint), "") + opts.expiryTimestamp;
+  stringToSign = encodeStringIfRequired(stringToSign);
   return crypto.createHmac("sha1", opts.privateKey).update(stringToSign).digest("hex");
 }
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index dd24015..3754b8b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "imagekit",
-  "version": "5.0.0",
+  "version": "5.0.1",
   "description": "Offical NodeJS SDK for ImageKit.io integration",
   "main": "./dist/index.js",
   "types": "./dist/index.d.ts",
diff --git a/tests/url-generation.js b/tests/url-generation.js
index 4664d16..4e946a4 100644
--- a/tests/url-generation.js
+++ b/tests/url-generation.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ const pkg = require("../package.json");
 const expect = chai.expect;
 const initializationParams = require("./data").initializationParams
 import ImageKit from "../index";
+import { encodeStringIfRequired, getSignature } from "../libs/url/builder";
 var imagekit = new ImageKit(initializationParams);
 
 describe("URL generation", function () {
@@ -59,6 +60,84 @@ describe("URL generation", function () {
         expect(url).includes(`ik-s=`);
     });
 
+    it("Signed URL with é in filename", function () {
+      const testURL = "https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint/test_é_path_alt.jpg";
+      const encodedUrl = encodeStringIfRequired(testURL);
+      expect(encodedUrl).equal("https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint/test_%C3%A9_path_alt.jpg");
+      const signature = getSignature({
+        privateKey: "test_private_key",
+        url: testURL,
+        urlEndpoint: "https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint",
+        expiryTimestamp: "9999999999",
+      });
+      const url = imagekit.url({
+        path: "/test_é_path_alt.jpg",
+        signed: true,
+      });
+      expect(url).equal(`https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint/test_é_path_alt.jpg?ik-s=${signature}`);
+    });
+
+    it("Signed URL with é in filename and path", function () {
+      const testURL = "https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint/aéb/test_é_path_alt.jpg";
+      const encodedUrl = encodeStringIfRequired(testURL);
+      expect(encodedUrl).equal("https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint/a%C3%A9b/test_%C3%A9_path_alt.jpg");
+      const signature = getSignature({
+        privateKey: "test_private_key",
+        url: testURL,
+        urlEndpoint: "https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint",
+        expiryTimestamp: "9999999999",
+      });
+      const url = imagekit.url({
+        path: "/aéb/test_é_path_alt.jpg",
+        signed: true,
+      });
+      expect(url).equal(`https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint/aéb/test_é_path_alt.jpg?ik-s=${signature}`);
+    });
+
+    it("Signed URL with é in filename, path and transformation as path", function () {
+      const testURL = "https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint/tr:l-text,i-Imagekité,fs-50,l-end/aéb/test_é_path_alt.jpg";
+      const encodedUrl = encodeStringIfRequired(testURL);
+      expect(encodedUrl).equal("https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint/tr:l-text,i-Imagekit%C3%A9,fs-50,l-end/a%C3%A9b/test_%C3%A9_path_alt.jpg");
+      const signature = getSignature({
+        privateKey: "test_private_key",
+        url: testURL,
+        urlEndpoint: "https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint",
+        expiryTimestamp: "9999999999",
+      });
+
+      const url = imagekit.url({
+        path: "/aéb/test_é_path_alt.jpg",
+        signed: true,
+        transformation: [{ raw: "l-text,i-Imagekité,fs-50,l-end" }],
+        transformationPosition: "path",
+      });
+      expect(url).equal(
+        `https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint/tr:l-text,i-Imagekité,fs-50,l-end/aéb/test_é_path_alt.jpg?ik-s=${signature}`
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("Signed URL with é in filename, path and transformation as query", function () {
+      const testURL = "https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint/aéb/test_é_path_alt.jpg?tr=l-text%2Ci-Imagekit%C3%A9%2Cfs-50%2Cl-end";
+      const encodedUrl = encodeStringIfRequired(testURL);
+      expect(encodedUrl).equal("https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint/a%C3%A9b/test_%C3%A9_path_alt.jpg?tr=l-text%2Ci-Imagekit%C3%A9%2Cfs-50%2Cl-end");
+      const signature = getSignature({
+        privateKey: "test_private_key",
+        url: testURL,
+        urlEndpoint: "https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint",
+        expiryTimestamp: "9999999999",
+      });
+      const url = imagekit.url({
+        path: "/aéb/test_é_path_alt.jpg",
+        signed: true,
+        transformation: [{ raw: "l-text,i-Imagekité,fs-50,l-end" }],
+        transformationPosition: "query",
+      });
+      expect(url).equal(
+        `https://ik.imagekit.io/test_url_endpoint/aéb/test_é_path_alt.jpg?tr=l-text%2Ci-Imagekit%C3%A9%2Cfs-50%2Cl-end&ik-s=${signature}`
+      );
+    });
+
+
     it('should generate the correct url with path param', function () {
         const url = imagekit.url({
             path: "/test_path.jpg",