diff --git a/ardour.rc.in b/ardour.rc.in
index de79c11ebc..a8c8b74bfd 100644
--- a/ardour.rc.in
+++ b/ardour.rc.in
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <Ardour>
   <MIDI-port tag="%MIDITAG%" device="ardour" type="%MIDITYPE%" mode="duplex"/>
   <MIDI-port tag="control" device="ardour" type="%MIDITYPE%" mode="duplex"/>
diff --git a/ardour_system.rc b/ardour_system.rc
index 05cdcab3fd..b7f6c22e9b 100644
--- a/ardour_system.rc
+++ b/ardour_system.rc
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <Ardour>
   <Config>
     <Option name="minimum-disk-io-bytes" value="262144"/>