diff --git a/labelImg.py b/labelImg.py
index a4d37f65..ab74772c 100755
--- a/labelImg.py
+++ b/labelImg.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 # -*- coding: utf8 -*-
 import _init_path
+import codecs
 import os.path
 import re
 import sys
@@ -1060,7 +1061,7 @@ class MainWindow(QMainWindow, WindowMixin):
     def loadPredefinedClasses(self):
         predefined_classes_path = os.path.join('data', 'predefined_classes.txt')
         if os.path.exists(predefined_classes_path) is True:
-            with open(predefined_classes_path) as f:
+            with codecs.open(predefined_classes_path, 'r', 'utf8') as f:
                 for line in f:
                     line = line.strip()
                     if self.labelHist is None:
diff --git a/libs/pascal_voc_io.py b/libs/pascal_voc_io.py
index 11d654d4..8284fda9 100644
--- a/libs/pascal_voc_io.py
+++ b/libs/pascal_voc_io.py
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ class PascalVocWriter:
         for each_object in self.boxlist:
             object_item = SubElement(top, 'object')
             name = SubElement(object_item, 'name')
-            name.text = str(each_object['name'])
+            name.text = unicode(each_object['name'])
             pose = SubElement(object_item, 'pose')
             pose.text = "Unspecified"
             truncated = SubElement(object_item, 'truncated')