diff --git a/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/userauth/password/PrivateKeyFileResource.java b/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/userauth/password/PrivateKeyFileResource.java
index e0af491b..601a6870 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/userauth/password/PrivateKeyFileResource.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/schmizz/sshj/userauth/password/PrivateKeyFileResource.java
@@ -27,6 +27,6 @@ public class PrivateKeyFileResource
     @Override
     public Reader getReader()
             throws IOException {
-        return new InputStreamReader(new FileInputStream(getDetail()));
+        return new InputStreamReader(new FileInputStream(getDetail()), "UTF-8");
     }
 }