diff --git a/rendercanvas/anywidget.py b/rendercanvas/anywidget.py
index 2c807bc..6ffc63a 100644
--- a/rendercanvas/anywidget.py
+++ b/rendercanvas/anywidget.py
@@ -24,11 +24,11 @@ def _load_js_and_css():
     js = ""
     for fname in ["renderview.js", "renderview-afm.js"]:
         js_path = resource_files("rendercanvas.core").joinpath(fname)
-        js += js_path.read_text() + "\n\n"
+        js += js_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8") + "\n\n"
 
     css_path = resource_files("rendercanvas.core").joinpath("renderview.css")
 
-    return js, css_path.read_text()
+    return js, css_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
 
 
 JS, CSS = _load_js_and_css()
diff --git a/rendercanvas/pyodide.py b/rendercanvas/pyodide.py
index 06aa30d..12f83ec 100644
--- a/rendercanvas/pyodide.py
+++ b/rendercanvas/pyodide.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def _inject_js_and_css():
     js = ""
     for fname in ["renderview.js", "renderview-pyodide.js"]:
         js_path = resource_files("rendercanvas.core").joinpath(fname)
-        js += js_path.read_text()
+        js += js_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
     js = "(function () {\n{JS}\n})();".replace("JS", js)  # wrap in IIFE module
     script_el = document.createElement("script")
     script_el.textContent = js
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def _inject_js_and_css():
 
     css_path = resource_files("rendercanvas.core").joinpath("renderview.css")
     style_el = document.createElement("style")
-    style_el.textContent = css_path.read_text()
+    style_el.textContent = css_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
     document.head.appendChild(style_el)