diff --git a/changedetectionio/content_fetchers/base.py b/changedetectionio/content_fetchers/base.py
index 66dd7403..c764f77e 100644
--- a/changedetectionio/content_fetchers/base.py
+++ b/changedetectionio/content_fetchers/base.py
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ class Fetcher():
 
     def __init__(self):
         import importlib.resources
-        self.xpath_element_js = importlib.resources.files("changedetectionio.content_fetchers.res").joinpath('xpath_element_scraper.js').read_text()
-        self.instock_data_js = importlib.resources.files("changedetectionio.content_fetchers.res").joinpath('stock-not-in-stock.js').read_text()
+        self.xpath_element_js = importlib.resources.files("changedetectionio.content_fetchers.res").joinpath('xpath_element_scraper.js').read_text(encoding='utf-8')
+        self.instock_data_js = importlib.resources.files("changedetectionio.content_fetchers.res").joinpath('stock-not-in-stock.js').read_text(encoding='utf-8')
 
     @abstractmethod
     def get_error(self):