diff --git a/src/crewai/project/crew_base.py b/src/crewai/project/crew_base.py
index 5e0f154ea8..c529a56570 100644
--- a/src/crewai/project/crew_base.py
+++ b/src/crewai/project/crew_base.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         @staticmethod
         def load_yaml(config_path: Path):
             try:
-                with open(config_path, "r") as file:
+                with open(config_path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as file:
                     return yaml.safe_load(file)
             except FileNotFoundError:
                 print(f"File not found: {config_path}")