diff --git a/utils/getdeveloperlib.py b/utils/getdeveloperlib.py
index b205817033..08abcfed54 100644
--- a/utils/getdeveloperlib.py
+++ b/utils/getdeveloperlib.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from __future__ import print_function
+from io import open
 import os
 import re
 import glob
@@ -231,7 +232,8 @@ def parse_developers():
     linen = 0
     global unittests
     unittests = list_unittests()
-    with open(os.path.join(brpath, "DEVELOPERS"), "r") as f:
+    developers_fname = os.path.join(brpath, 'DEVELOPERS')
+    with open(developers_fname, mode='r', encoding='utf_8') as f:
         files = []
         name = None
         for line in f: