diff --git a/py/makeqstrdata.py b/py/makeqstrdata.py
index 57635807dc..e30f120e61 100644
--- a/py/makeqstrdata.py
+++ b/py/makeqstrdata.py
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ import collections
 import gettext
 import os.path
 
+sys.stdout.reconfigure(encoding='utf-8')
+sys.stderr.reconfigure(errors='backslashreplace')
+
 py = os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0])
 top = os.path.dirname(py)