diff --git a/Lib/sysconfig.py b/Lib/sysconfig.py
index e76e692..b9e2faf 100644
--- a/Lib/sysconfig.py
+++ b/Lib/sysconfig.py
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@
         pprint.pprint(vars, stream=f)
 
     # Create file used for sys.path fixup -- see Modules/getpath.c
-    with open('pybuilddir.txt', 'w', encoding='ascii') as f:
+    with open('pybuilddir.txt', 'w', encoding='utf8') as f:
         f.write(pybuilddir)
 
 def _init_posix(vars):