diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 861723b28..e3a8755f8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -787,7 +787,8 @@ endif()
 
 if(MSVC)
   target_compile_options(duckdb_java PRIVATE
-    /bigobj)
+    /bigobj
+    /utf-8)
 else()
   target_compile_options(duckdb_java PRIVATE
     -fexceptions)
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt.in b/CMakeLists.txt.in
index 6f54d7371..667a25d9d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt.in
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt.in
@@ -148,7 +148,8 @@ endif()
 
 if(MSVC)
   target_compile_options(duckdb_java PRIVATE
-    /bigobj)
+    /bigobj
+    /utf-8)
 else()
   target_compile_options(duckdb_java PRIVATE
     -fexceptions)