diff --git a/Modules/posixmodule.c b/Modules/posixmodule.c
index 52977fe..5c2f867 100644
--- a/Modules/posixmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/posixmodule.c
@@ -1968,7 +1968,8 @@
 #endif /* Py_WIN_WIDE_FILENAMES */
 
 	if (!have_unicode_filename && \
-		!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "sO:utime", &path, &arg))
+		!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "etO:utime",
+				  Py_FileSystemDefaultEncoding, &path, &arg))
 		return NULL;
 	if (arg == Py_None) {
 		/* optional time values not given */