diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/api.rb b/Library/Homebrew/api.rb
index 5adfeb57f6..2a4a920c21 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/api.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/api.rb
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ module Homebrew
 
         mtime = insecure_download ? Time.new(1970, 1, 1) : Time.now
         FileUtils.touch(target, mtime:) unless skip_download
-        JSON.parse(target.read, freeze: true)
+        JSON.parse(target.read(encoding: Encoding::UTF_8), freeze: true)
       rescue JSON::ParserError
         target.unlink
         retry_count += 1