diff --git a/web/pgadmin/misc/bgprocess/processes.py b/web/pgadmin/misc/bgprocess/processes.py
index 88b14693e..0b94775a4 100644
--- a/web/pgadmin/misc/bgprocess/processes.py
+++ b/web/pgadmin/misc/bgprocess/processes.py
@@ -362,6 +362,8 @@ class BatchProcess(object):
         out_completed = err_completed = False
         process_output = (out != -1 and err != -1)
         enc = sys.getdefaultencoding()
+        if enc is None or enc == 'ascii':
+            enc = 'utf-8'
 
         def read_log(logfile, log, pos, ctime):
             completed = True