diff --git a/mesonbuild/utils/vsenv.py b/mesonbuild/utils/vsenv.py
index 550a8cf54..5a023794b 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/utils/vsenv.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/utils/vsenv.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import json
 import pathlib
 import shutil
 import tempfile
+import locale
 
 from .. import mlog
 from .core import MesonException
@@ -93,7 +94,8 @@ def _setup_vsenv(force: bool) -> bool:
     bat_file.write(bat_contents)
     bat_file.flush()
     bat_file.close()
-    bat_output = subprocess.check_output(bat_file.name, universal_newlines=True)
+    bat_output = subprocess.check_output(bat_file.name, universal_newlines=True,
+                                         encoding=locale.getpreferredencoding(False))
     os.unlink(bat_file.name)
     bat_lines = bat_output.split('\n')
     bat_separator_seen = False