diff --git a/src/towncrier/build.py b/src/towncrier/build.py
index 3a07bae1..f8e4175e 100644
--- a/src/towncrier/build.py
+++ b/src/towncrier/build.py
@@ -166,7 +166,9 @@ def __main(
     click.echo("Loading template...", err=to_err)
     if isinstance(config.template, tuple):
         template = (
-            resources.files(config.template[0]).joinpath(config.template[1]).read_text()
+            resources.files(config.template[0])
+            .joinpath(config.template[1])
+            .read_text(encoding="utf-8")
         )
     else:
         with open(config.template, encoding="utf-8") as tmpl:
diff --git a/src/towncrier/newsfragments/+c903f19e.bugfix.rst b/src/towncrier/newsfragments/+c903f19e.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a70ef55f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/towncrier/newsfragments/+c903f19e.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add explicit encoding to read_text.
\ No newline at end of file