diff --git a/PCbuild/build_ssl.py b/PCbuild/build_ssl.py
index dc517813e18..260cbf3d60c 100644
--- a/PCbuild/build_ssl.py
+++ b/PCbuild/build_ssl.py
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ def find_working_perl(perls):
 # Fetch SSL directory from VC properties
 def get_ssl_dir():
     propfile = (os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'pyproject.props'))
-    with open(propfile) as f:
+    with open(propfile, encoding='utf-8-sig') as f:
         m = re.search('openssl-([^<]+)<', f.read())
         return "..\..\openssl-"+m.group(1)