diff --git a/cli.py b/cli.py
index d711da1723..a09d501621 100755
--- a/cli.py
+++ b/cli.py
@@ -55,7 +55,10 @@ from hermes_constants import OPENROUTER_BASE_URL
 
 env_path = Path(__file__).parent / '.env'
 if env_path.exists():
-    load_dotenv(dotenv_path=env_path)
+    try:
+        load_dotenv(dotenv_path=env_path, encoding="utf-8")
+    except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        load_dotenv(dotenv_path=env_path, encoding="latin-1")
 
 # =============================================================================
 # Configuration Loading
@@ -133,7 +136,10 @@ def load_cli_config() -> Dict[str, Any]:
     user_env_path = Path.home() / '.hermes' / '.env'
     if user_env_path.exists():
         from dotenv import load_dotenv
-        load_dotenv(dotenv_path=user_env_path, override=True)
+        try:
+            load_dotenv(dotenv_path=user_env_path, override=True, encoding="utf-8")
+        except UnicodeDecodeError:
+            load_dotenv(dotenv_path=user_env_path, override=True, encoding="latin-1")
     
     # Default configuration
     defaults = {
diff --git a/cron/scheduler.py b/cron/scheduler.py
index 74be6da698..8935769162 100644
--- a/cron/scheduler.py
+++ b/cron/scheduler.py
@@ -155,7 +155,10 @@ def run_job(job: dict) -> tuple[bool, str, str, Optional[str]]:
         # Re-read .env and config.yaml fresh every run so provider/key
         # changes take effect without a gateway restart.
         from dotenv import load_dotenv
-        load_dotenv(os.path.expanduser("~/.hermes/.env"), override=True)
+        try:
+            load_dotenv(os.path.expanduser("~/.hermes/.env"), override=True, encoding="utf-8")
+        except UnicodeDecodeError:
+            load_dotenv(os.path.expanduser("~/.hermes/.env"), override=True, encoding="latin-1")
 
         model = os.getenv("HERMES_MODEL", "anthropic/claude-opus-4.6")
         api_key = os.getenv("OPENROUTER_API_KEY", "")
diff --git a/gateway/run.py b/gateway/run.py
index ebc59be352..72986e3dc8 100644
--- a/gateway/run.py
+++ b/gateway/run.py
@@ -32,7 +32,10 @@ sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).parent.parent))
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
 _env_path = Path.home() / '.hermes' / '.env'
 if _env_path.exists():
-    load_dotenv(_env_path)
+    try:
+        load_dotenv(_env_path, encoding="utf-8")
+    except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        load_dotenv(_env_path, encoding="latin-1")
 # Also try project .env as fallback
 load_dotenv()
 
diff --git a/hermes_cli/doctor.py b/hermes_cli/doctor.py
index 6a103a372f..f9156354a1 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/doctor.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/doctor.py
@@ -19,9 +19,12 @@ HERMES_HOME = get_hermes_home()
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
 _env_path = get_env_path()
 if _env_path.exists():
-    load_dotenv(_env_path)
+    try:
+        load_dotenv(_env_path, encoding="utf-8")
+    except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        load_dotenv(_env_path, encoding="latin-1")
 # Also try project .env as fallback
-load_dotenv(PROJECT_ROOT / ".env", override=False)
+load_dotenv(PROJECT_ROOT / ".env", override=False, encoding="utf-8")
 
 from hermes_cli.colors import Colors, color
 from hermes_constants import OPENROUTER_MODELS_URL
diff --git a/hermes_cli/main.py b/hermes_cli/main.py
index 18d71451b9..544932020d 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/main.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/main.py
@@ -37,7 +37,10 @@ sys.path.insert(0, str(PROJECT_ROOT))
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
 env_path = PROJECT_ROOT / '.env'
 if env_path.exists():
-    load_dotenv(dotenv_path=env_path)
+    try:
+        load_dotenv(dotenv_path=env_path, encoding="utf-8")
+    except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        load_dotenv(dotenv_path=env_path, encoding="latin-1")
 
 import logging
 
diff --git a/run_agent.py b/run_agent.py
index 94f683e297..0c73e44d56 100644
--- a/run_agent.py
+++ b/run_agent.py
@@ -43,7 +43,10 @@ from dotenv import load_dotenv
 # Load .env file if it exists
 env_path = Path(__file__).parent / '.env'
 if env_path.exists():
-    load_dotenv(dotenv_path=env_path)
+    try:
+        load_dotenv(dotenv_path=env_path, encoding="utf-8")
+    except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        load_dotenv(dotenv_path=env_path, encoding="latin-1")
     logger.info("Loaded environment variables from %s", env_path)
 else:
     logger.info("No .env file found at %s. Using system environment variables.", env_path)