diff --git a/apt_repos/__init__.py b/apt_repos/__init__.py
index 8d7f776..cdc4a8a 100644
--- a/apt_repos/__init__.py
+++ b/apt_repos/__init__.py
@@ -204,12 +204,12 @@ def getSuites(selectors=None):
                     if str(filename).endswith(".suites"):
                         logger.debug("reading suites file " + filename)
                         with open(filename, 'r') as file:
-                            jsonData = json.load(file, encoding="utf-8")
+                            jsonData = json.load(file)
                             suitesData[f] = (jsonData, basedir)
                             configSectionsCount += len(jsonData)
                     elif str(filename).endswith(".repos"):
                         with open(filename, 'r') as file:
-                            jsonData = json.load(file, encoding="utf-8")
+                            jsonData = json.load(file)
                             reposData[f] = (jsonData, basedir)
                             configSectionsCount += len(jsonData)
                 except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError as ex: