diff --git a/odoo/tools/translate.py b/odoo/tools/translate.py
index 5561aa082c7..5a11f004ada 100644
--- a/odoo/tools/translate.py
+++ b/odoo/tools/translate.py
@@ -953,8 +953,11 @@ def trans_generate(lang, modules, cr):
         extra_comments = extra_comments or []
         if not module: return
         src_file = open(fabsolutepath, 'rb')
+        options = {}
+        if extract_method == 'python':
+            options['encoding'] = 'UTF-8'
         try:
-            for extracted in extract.extract(extract_method, src_file, keywords=extract_keywords):
+            for extracted in extract.extract(extract_method, src_file, keywords=extract_keywords, options=options):
                 # Babel 0.9.6 yields lineno, message, comments
                 # Babel 1.3 yields lineno, message, comments, context
                 lineno, message, comments = extracted[:3]