diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/EditorWindow.py b/Lib/idlelib/EditorWindow.py
index 20a2b26..ab75f3a 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/EditorWindow.py
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/EditorWindow.py
@@ -773,7 +773,8 @@
         "Load and update the recent files list and menus"
         rf_list = []
         if os.path.exists(self.recent_files_path):
-            rf_list_file = open(self.recent_files_path,'r')
+            rf_list_file = open(self.recent_files_path,'r',
+                                encoding='utf_8', errors='replace')
             try:
                 rf_list = rf_list_file.readlines()
             finally:
@@ -791,7 +792,8 @@
         rf_list = [path for path in rf_list if path not in bad_paths]
         ulchars = "1234567890ABCDEFGHIJK"
         rf_list = rf_list[0:len(ulchars)]
-        rf_file = open(self.recent_files_path, 'w')
+        rf_file = open(self.recent_files_path, 'w',
+                        encoding='utf_8', errors='replace')
         try:
             rf_file.writelines(rf_list)
         finally: