diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c2246097..077fbbc5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ CHANGELOG for FlatCAM Evo beta
 29.03.2024
 
 - continue refactoring methods from the appMain
+- appIO: fixed an encoding error when trying to open a DXF file
 
 28.03.2024
 
diff --git a/appHandlers/appIO.py b/appHandlers/appIO.py
index 34f8720a..adf4d6aa 100644
--- a/appHandlers/appIO.py
+++ b/appHandlers/appIO.py
@@ -1988,7 +1988,7 @@ class appIO(QtCore.QObject):
             else:
                 return "fail"
 
-            with open(filename) as f:
+            with open(filename, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
                 file_content = f.read()
             geo_obj.source_file = file_content