diff --git a/scripts/experimental_helper.sh b/scripts/experimental_helper.sh
index 43b7df1..a124a52 100644
--- a/scripts/experimental_helper.sh
+++ b/scripts/experimental_helper.sh
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ ynh_psql_test_if_first_run() {
 ynh_read_manifest () {
 	manifest="$1"
 	key="$2"
-	python3 -c "import sys, json;print(json.load(open('$manifest'))['$key'])"
+	python3 -c "import sys, json;print(json.load(open('$manifest', encoding='utf-8'))['$key'])"
 }
 
 # Read the upstream version from the manifest