diff --git a/legendary/cli.py b/legendary/cli.py
index 9d246da..ec42d04 100644
--- a/legendary/cli.py
+++ b/legendary/cli.py
@@ -932,7 +932,7 @@ class LegendaryCLI:
         # always write repair file, even if all match
         if repair_file:
             repair_filename = os.path.join(self.core.lgd.get_tmp_path(), f'{args.app_name}.repair')
-            with open(repair_filename, 'w') as f:
+            with open(repair_filename, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
                 f.write('\n'.join(repair_file))
             logger.debug(f'Written repair file to "{repair_filename}"')
 
diff --git a/legendary/downloader/mp/manager.py b/legendary/downloader/mp/manager.py
index eb1c817..846d8c5 100644
--- a/legendary/downloader/mp/manager.py
+++ b/legendary/downloader/mp/manager.py
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ class DLManager(Process):
                 mismatch = 0
                 completed_files = set()
 
-                for line in open(self.resume_file).readlines():
+                for line in open(self.resume_file, encoding='utf-8').readlines():
                     file_hash, _, filename = line.strip().partition(':')
                     _p = os.path.join(self.dl_dir, filename)
                     if not os.path.exists(_p):
@@ -527,8 +527,8 @@ class DLManager(Process):
 
                     file_hash = self.hash_map[res.filename]
                     # write last completed file to super simple resume file
-                    with open(self.resume_file, 'ab') as rf:
-                        rf.write(f'{file_hash}:{res.filename}\n'.encode('utf-8'))
+                    with open(self.resume_file, 'a', encoding='utf-8') as rf:
+                        rf.write(f'{file_hash}:{res.filename}\n')
 
                 if not res.success:
                     # todo make this kill the installation process or at least skip the file and mark it as failed