diff --git a/src/lg2txt.py b/src/lg2txt.py
index f43066d09c796fde03c3c103deb1676167a3391a..96de3b3d41433ec92d73b257d1b1d8d2eb8da0af 100644
--- a/src/lg2txt.py
+++ b/src/lg2txt.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ def readtranslateFile(mapFile):
 def readMapFile(fileName):
     """Read in symbol and structure mappings from a file."""
     try:
-        fileReader = csv.reader(open(fileName))
+        fileReader = csv.reader(open(fileName, encoding='utf8'))
     except:
         sys.stderr.write("  !! IO Error (cannot open): " + fileName + "\n")
         return