diff --git a/rdiffweb/archiver.py b/rdiffweb/archiver.py
index 959fa9378d8cb7c2a6756fe5e6ec8103537e9987..256cddb025a3228acecd00873731a7db19fdca59 100644
--- a/rdiffweb/archiver.py
+++ b/rdiffweb/archiver.py
@@ -57,10 +57,10 @@ class TarArchiver(object):
 
         # Open the tar archive with the right method.
         if isinstance(dest, str):
-            self.z = tarfile.open(name=dest, mode=mode)
+            self.z = tarfile.open(name=dest, mode=mode, encoding='UTF8')
             self.fileobj = None
         else:
-            self.z = tarfile.open(fileobj=dest, mode=mode)
+            self.z = tarfile.open(fileobj=dest, mode=mode, encoding='UTF8')
             self.fileobj = dest
 
     def addfile(self, filename, arcname):