diff --git a/io_sequencer_edl/import_edl.py b/io_sequencer_edl/import_edl.py
index 56ee46a9197ae0958e217ba450f4cac1fe29569d..543d2b3cc8331b98c4e93746dfafdf7bd4522bfc 100644
--- a/io_sequencer_edl/import_edl.py
+++ b/io_sequencer_edl/import_edl.py
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ class EditList:
 
     def parse(self, filename, fps):
         try:
-            file = open(filename, "rU")
+            file = open(filename, "r", encoding="utf-8")
         except:
             return False