diff --git a/core/cli/env.el b/core/cli/env.el
index f13a838d3..0230ec9df 100644
--- a/core/cli/env.el
+++ b/core/cli/env.el
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ default, on Linux, this is '$SHELL -ic /usr/bin/env'. Variables in
                     doom-env-file)))
     (when (or force-p (not (file-exists-p env-file)))
       (with-temp-file env-file
+        (setq coding-system-for-write 'utf-8)
         (print! (start "%s envvars file at %S")
                 (if (file-exists-p env-file)
                     "Regenerating"
diff --git a/core/core-lib.el b/core/core-lib.el
index 85146ea4c..bf267c14e 100644
--- a/core/core-lib.el
+++ b/core/core-lib.el
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ unreadable. Returns the names of envvars that were changed."
         (env
          (with-temp-buffer
            (save-excursion
+             (setq coding-system-for-read 'utf-8)
              (insert "\0\n") ; to prevent off-by-one
              (insert-file-contents file))
            (save-match-data