diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 389e9bac..b5ec8ac4 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ def add_package(package_list, package):
 
 
 this_directory = path.abspath(path.dirname(__file__))
-with open(path.join(this_directory, 'readme.md'), encoding='utf-8') as f:
+with open(path.join(this_directory, 'readme.md')) as f:
     long_description = f.read()
 
 with open("requirements.txt", "r") as fh: