diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b2e62f531..ddb40655c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ Does most things that PEDA does.  Doesn't do things that PEDA does that [pwntool
 
 Also has a basic windbg compat layer for e.g. `dd`, `eb`, `da`, `dps`.  Now you can even [`eb eip 90`](https://twitter.com/ebeip90)!
 
+For most standard function calls, it knows how many arguments there are and can print out the function call args.
+
 ## Screenshots
 
 Here's a screenshot of `pwndbg` working on an aarch64 binary running under `qemu-user`.
diff --git a/pwndbg/stdio.py b/pwndbg/stdio.py
index 522d75794..a8e36bd8b 100644
--- a/pwndbg/stdio.py
+++ b/pwndbg/stdio.py
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 """
 Provides functionality to circumvent GDB's hooks on sys.stdin and sys.stdout
 which prevent output from appearing on-screen inside of certain event handlers.
 """
+import codecs
 import io
 import os
 import sys
@@ -22,7 +25,7 @@ def get(fd, mode):
 
         return io.TextIOWrapper(file, **kw)
     else:
-        return open(fd, mode=mode)
+        return codecs.open(fd, mode, 'utf-8')
 
 
 class Stdio(object):