diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4e64f180322..e1f610546bf 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -264,6 +264,8 @@ if(MSVC)
   set(_gRPC_C_CXX_FLAGS "${_gRPC_C_CXX_FLAGS} /wd4987 /wd4774 /wd4819 /wd4996 /wd4619")
   # Silences thousands of trucation warnings
   set(_gRPC_C_CXX_FLAGS "${_gRPC_C_CXX_FLAGS} /wd4503")
+  # Tell MSVC to build grpc using utf-8
+  set(_gRPC_C_CXX_FLAGS "${_gRPC_C_CXX_FLAGS} /utf-8")
 endif()
 if (MINGW)
   add_definitions(-D_WIN32_WINNT=0x600)
diff --git a/templates/CMakeLists.txt.template b/templates/CMakeLists.txt.template
index 9096d912596..76724faec46 100644
--- a/templates/CMakeLists.txt.template
+++ b/templates/CMakeLists.txt.template
@@ -308,6 +308,8 @@
     set(_gRPC_C_CXX_FLAGS "<%text>${_gRPC_C_CXX_FLAGS}</%text> /wd4987 /wd4774 /wd4819 /wd4996 /wd4619")
     # Silences thousands of trucation warnings
     set(_gRPC_C_CXX_FLAGS "<%text>${_gRPC_C_CXX_FLAGS}</%text> /wd4503")
+    # Tell MSVC to build grpc using utf-8
+    set(_gRPC_C_CXX_FLAGS "<%text>${_gRPC_C_CXX_FLAGS}</%text> /utf-8")
   endif()
   if (MINGW)
     add_definitions(-D_WIN32_WINNT=0x600)