diff --git a/get_translation_iiith_hindi_telugu.py b/get_translation_iiith_hindi_telugu.py
index fa8ecf94376156e5c7c68aa532e21e893257ec13..c46ce91ba6b85ceb00157fb96545625c487fb420 100644
--- a/get_translation_iiith_hindi_telugu.py
+++ b/get_translation_iiith_hindi_telugu.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ output_file = sys.argv[2]
 
 def read_file(path, isref=False):
     _data = []
-    for line in codecs.open(path):
+    for line in codecs.open(path, encoding="utf8"):
         line = line.strip()
         line = line.replace('_','').replace('`','').replace('"','').replace("'",'')
         _data.append(line)
diff --git a/get_translation_iiith_telugu_hindi.py b/get_translation_iiith_telugu_hindi.py
index 5d349414d9df7fb3b709b86584e078a5ceeda827..4eda61d8226492fbd4a8af538dc39b1abf892c40 100644
--- a/get_translation_iiith_telugu_hindi.py
+++ b/get_translation_iiith_telugu_hindi.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ output_file = sys.argv[2]
 
 def read_file(path, isref=False):
     _data = []
-    for line in codecs.open(path):
+    for line in codecs.open(path, encoding="utf8"):
         line = line.strip()
         line = line.replace('_','').replace('`','').replace('"','').replace("'",'')
         _data.append(line)