diff --git a/hermes_cli/auth.py b/hermes_cli/auth.py
index 507dd08a0220..4b2c01088956 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/auth.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/auth.py
@@ -1112,7 +1112,7 @@ def _load_auth_store(auth_file: Optional[Path] = None) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         return {"version": AUTH_STORE_VERSION, "providers": {}}
 
     try:
-        raw = json.loads(auth_file.read_text())
+        raw = json.loads(auth_file.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
     except Exception as exc:
         corrupt_path = auth_file.with_suffix(".json.corrupt")
         try:
@@ -3701,7 +3701,7 @@ def _import_codex_cli_tokens() -> Optional[Dict[str, str]]:
     if not auth_path.is_file():
         return None
     try:
-        payload = json.loads(auth_path.read_text())
+        payload = json.loads(auth_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
         tokens = payload.get("tokens")
         if not isinstance(tokens, dict):
             return None
@@ -5136,7 +5136,7 @@ def _read_shared_nous_state() -> Optional[Dict[str, Any]]:
     if not path.is_file():
         return None
     try:
-        payload = json.loads(path.read_text())
+        payload = json.loads(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
     except (OSError, ValueError) as exc:
         logger.debug("Shared Nous auth store at %s is unreadable: %s", path, exc)
         return None