diff --git a/compiler/taglibs/taglib-loader/scanTagsDir.js b/compiler/taglibs/taglib-loader/scanTagsDir.js
index d6325c1d4..cfe8a2a1e 100644
--- a/compiler/taglibs/taglib-loader/scanTagsDir.js
+++ b/compiler/taglibs/taglib-loader/scanTagsDir.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ var fs = require('fs');
 var jsonminify = require('jsonminify');
 var tagDefFromCode = require('./tag-def-from-code');
 var loader = require('./loader');
+var fsReadOptions = { encoding: 'utf8' };
 
 function createDefaultTagDef() {
     return {
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ module.exports = function scanTagsDir(tagsConfigPath, tagsConfigDirname, dir, ta
 
         if (fs.existsSync(tagFile)) {
             // marko-tag.json exists in the directory, use that as the tag definition
-            tagDef = JSON.parse(jsonminify(fs.readFileSync(tagFile, {encoding: 'utf8'})));
+            tagDef = JSON.parse(jsonminify(fs.readFileSync(tagFile, fsReadOptions)));
             if (!tagDef.renderer && !tagDef.template) {
                 if (fs.existsSync(rendererFile)) {
                     tagDef.renderer = rendererFile;
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ module.exports = function scanTagsDir(tagsConfigPath, tagsConfigDirname, dir, ta
                     exTemplateFile = templateFile + ".html";
                 }
                 if(exTemplateFile){
-                    var templateCode = fs.readFileSync(exTemplateFile, {encoding: 'utf8'});
+                    var templateCode = fs.readFileSync(exTemplateFile, fsReadOptions);
                     tagDef = tagDefFromCode.extractTagDef(templateCode);
                     if (!tagDef) {
                         tagDef = createDefaultTagDef();
@@ -106,7 +107,7 @@ module.exports = function scanTagsDir(tagsConfigPath, tagsConfigDirname, dir, ta
             }
 
             if (rendererJSFile) {
-                var rendererCode = fs.readFileSync(rendererJSFile, {encoding: 'utf8'});
+                var rendererCode = fs.readFileSync(rendererJSFile, fsReadOptions);
                 tagDef = tagDefFromCode.extractTagDef(rendererCode);
                 if (!tagDef) {
                      tagDef = createDefaultTagDef();
diff --git a/compiler/taglibs/taglib-loader/taglib-reader.js b/compiler/taglibs/taglib-loader/taglib-reader.js
index 2c51b9161..1f68235fe 100644
--- a/compiler/taglibs/taglib-loader/taglib-reader.js
+++ b/compiler/taglibs/taglib-loader/taglib-reader.js
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 var fs = require('fs');
 var jsonminify = require('jsonminify');
+var fsReadOptions = { encoding: 'utf8' };
 
 exports.readTaglib = function (path) {
-    var json = fs.readFileSync(path, 'utf8');
+    var json = fs.readFileSync(path, fsReadOptions);
 
     try {
         var taglibProps = JSON.parse(jsonminify(json));
diff --git a/runtime/loader.js b/runtime/loader.js
index f69a39e3f..326f8c592 100644
--- a/runtime/loader.js
+++ b/runtime/loader.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ var fs = require('fs');
 var Module = require('module').Module;
 var markoCompiler = require('../compiler');
 var cwd = process.cwd();
+var fsReadOptions = {encoding: 'utf8'};
 
 if (process.env.hasOwnProperty('MARKO_HOT_RELOAD')) {
     require('../hot-reload').enable();
@@ -42,14 +43,14 @@ module.exports = function load(templatePath) {
         return require(targetFile);
     }
 
-	var templateSrc = fs.readFileSync(templatePath, {encoding: 'utf8'});
+	var templateSrc = fs.readFileSync(templatePath, fsReadOptions);
 	var compiledSrc = compiler.compile(templateSrc);
 
     // console.log('Compiled code for "' + templatePath + '":\n' + compiledSrc);
 
     var filename = nodePath.basename(targetFile);
     var tempFile = nodePath.join(targetDir, '.' + process.pid + '.' + Date.now() + '.' + filename);
-    fs.writeFileSync(tempFile, compiledSrc, {encoding: 'utf8'});
+    fs.writeFileSync(tempFile, compiledSrc, fsReadOptions);
     fs.renameSync(tempFile, targetFile);
 
     return require(targetFile);