diff --git a/gramps/gen/plug/docgen/stylesheet.py b/gramps/gen/plug/docgen/stylesheet.py
index a6667e34d..56d2f860d 100644
--- a/gramps/gen/plug/docgen/stylesheet.py
+++ b/gramps/gen/plug/docgen/stylesheet.py
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ class StyleSheetList(object):
         Saves the current StyleSheet definitions to the associated file.
         """
         xml_file = open(self.__file, "w")
-        xml_file.write("<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>\n")
+        xml_file.write('<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>\n')
         xml_file.write('<stylelist>\n')
         
         for name in sorted(self.map.keys()): # enable diff of archived copies