diff --git a/functional-tests/040-test_simple_rebase.sh b/functional-tests/040-test_simple_rebase.sh
index 7010389..4622ed7 100755
--- a/functional-tests/040-test_simple_rebase.sh
+++ b/functional-tests/040-test_simple_rebase.sh
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ index 170ec46..251e1dd 100644
      keywords="git hpcloud workflow",
 EOP
 
-  git commit -a -m "Add maintainer info" --quiet || return 1
+  # use smart quotes to test unicode characters in commit messages
+  git commit -a -m "Add “Davide Guerri” as maintainer" --quiet || return 1
   git push -u origin master --quiet >/dev/null || return 1
 
   log DEBUG "Cherry picking upstream commits"
diff --git a/git_upstream/lib/rebaseeditor.py b/git_upstream/lib/rebaseeditor.py
index a7e04fe..bd81cb2 100644
--- a/git_upstream/lib/rebaseeditor.py
+++ b/git_upstream/lib/rebaseeditor.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ from git_upstream.log import LogDedentMixin
 
 from subprocess import call
 import os
+import codecs
 
 REBASE_EDITOR_SCRIPT = "rebase-editor"
 
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ class RebaseEditor(GitMixin, LogDedentMixin):
                 break
 
         root = None
-        with open(todo_file, "w") as todo:
+        with codecs.open(todo_file, "w", "utf-8") as todo:
             for commit in commits:
                 if not root:
                     root = commit.parents[0].hexsha