diff --git a/gobject/glib-mkenums.in b/gobject/glib-mkenums.in
index b996a733a..632ba5d51 100755
--- a/gobject/glib-mkenums.in
+++ b/gobject/glib-mkenums.in
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ import errno
 import codecs
 import locale
 
+# Non-english locale systems might complain to unrecognized character
+sys.stdout = io.TextIOWrapper(sys.stdout.detach(), encoding='utf-8')
+
 VERSION_STR = '''glib-mkenums version @VERSION@
 glib-mkenums comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
 You may redistribute copies of glib-mkenums under the terms of