diff --git a/bin/sqlline.py b/bin/sqlline.py
index a45ed68c8cc..2cd776890da 100755
--- a/bin/sqlline.py
+++ b/bin/sqlline.py
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ def kill_child():
     '" -Djava.util.logging.config.class=org.apache.hadoop.hbase.logging.JulToSlf4jInitializer ' + \
     ' -Dlog4j2.configurationFile=file:' + os.path.join(phoenix_utils.current_dir, "log4j2.properties") + \
     disable_jna + \
+    " -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 " + \
     " sqlline.SqlLine -d org.apache.phoenix.jdbc.PhoenixDriver" + \
     (not args.noconnect and " -u " + phoenix_utils.shell_quote([jdbc_url]) or "") + \
     " -n none -p none --color=" + \