diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index ce1fffb..1bf0045 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 require 'fileutils'
 
 def find_version
-  File.read("yasnippet.el") =~ /;; Package-version: *([0-9.]+?) *$/
+  File.read("yasnippet.el", :encoding => "UTF-8") =~ /;; Package-version: *([0-9.]+?) *$/
   $version = $1
 end
 find_version