diff --git a/4_rag/1a_rag_basics.py b/4_rag/1a_rag_basics.py
index 1898e661..c5c7fe67 100644
--- a/4_rag/1a_rag_basics.py
+++ b/4_rag/1a_rag_basics.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
         )
 
     # Read the text content from the file
-    loader = TextLoader(file_path)
+    loader = TextLoader(file_path, encoding='utf-8')
     documents = loader.load()
 
     # Split the document into chunks