diff --git a/R/reprex.R b/R/reprex.R
index 3940df1f..7a24a11a 100644
--- a/R/reprex.R
+++ b/R/reprex.R
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ reprex_highlight <- function(rout_file, reprex_file, arg_string = NULL) {
   arg_string <- arg_string %||% highlight_args()
   cmd <- paste0(
     "highlight ", rout_file,
-    " --out-format=rtf --no-trailing-nl",
+    " --out-format=rtf --no-trailing-nl --encoding=UTF-8",
     arg_string,
     " > ", reprex_file
   )