diff --git a/backend/app/utils.py b/backend/app/utils.py
index d59aefc7bf..9c71c29b6e 100644
--- a/backend/app/utils.py
+++ b/backend/app/utils.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ class EmailData:
 def render_email_template(*, template_name: str, context: dict[str, Any]) -> str:
     template_str = (
         Path(__file__).parent / "email-templates" / template_name
-    ).read_text()
+    ).read_text(encoding="utf-8")
     template: Template = Template(template_str)
     html_content = template.render(context)
     return html_content