diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a01ea41..b196857 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 __pycache__/
 *.py[cod]
 *$py.class
+.history/
 
 # C extensions
 *.so
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 31a51aa..bf424d9 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
 
-with open('README.rst') as infile:
+with open('README.rst', encoding='utf-8') as infile:
     readme = infile.read()
 
 with open('lazy_import/VERSION') as infile: