diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fba85b899..3d33270d0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 test: import-cldr
-	python ${PYTHON_TEST_FLAGS} -m pytest ${PYTEST_FLAGS}
+	python -X utf8 ${PYTHON_TEST_FLAGS} -m pytest ${PYTEST_FLAGS}
 
 clean: clean-cldr clean-pyc