diff --git a/src/specify_cli/__init__.py b/src/specify_cli/__init__.py
index d2bf63eeb..fd638bc61 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/__init__.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/__init__.py
@@ -2964,7 +2964,7 @@ def preset_catalog_add(
     # Load existing config
     if config_path.exists():
         try:
-            config = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text()) or {}
+            config = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
         except Exception as e:
             console.print(f"[red]Error:[/red] Failed to read {config_path}: {e}")
             raise typer.Exit(1)
@@ -2992,7 +2992,7 @@ def preset_catalog_add(
     })
 
     config["catalogs"] = catalogs
-    config_path.write_text(yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False))
+    config_path.write_text(yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True), encoding="utf-8")
 
     install_label = "install allowed" if install_allowed else "discovery only"
     console.print(f"\n[green]✓[/green] Added catalog '[bold]{name}[/bold]' ({install_label})")
@@ -3020,7 +3020,7 @@ def preset_catalog_remove(
         raise typer.Exit(1)
 
     try:
-        config = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text()) or {}
+        config = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
     except Exception:
         console.print("[red]Error:[/red] Failed to read preset catalog config.")
         raise typer.Exit(1)
@@ -3037,7 +3037,7 @@ def preset_catalog_remove(
         raise typer.Exit(1)
 
     config["catalogs"] = catalogs
-    config_path.write_text(yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False))
+    config_path.write_text(yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True), encoding="utf-8")
 
     console.print(f"[green]✓[/green] Removed catalog '{name}'")
     if not catalogs:
@@ -3306,7 +3306,7 @@ def catalog_add(
     # Load existing config
     if config_path.exists():
         try:
-            config = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text()) or {}
+            config = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
         except Exception as e:
             console.print(f"[red]Error:[/red] Failed to read {config_path}: {e}")
             raise typer.Exit(1)
@@ -3334,7 +3334,7 @@ def catalog_add(
     })
 
     config["catalogs"] = catalogs
-    config_path.write_text(yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False))
+    config_path.write_text(yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True), encoding="utf-8")
 
     install_label = "install allowed" if install_allowed else "discovery only"
     console.print(f"\n[green]✓[/green] Added catalog '[bold]{name}[/bold]' ({install_label})")
@@ -3362,7 +3362,7 @@ def catalog_remove(
         raise typer.Exit(1)
 
     try:
-        config = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text()) or {}
+        config = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
     except Exception:
         console.print("[red]Error:[/red] Failed to read catalog config.")
         raise typer.Exit(1)
@@ -3379,7 +3379,7 @@ def catalog_remove(
         raise typer.Exit(1)
 
     config["catalogs"] = catalogs
-    config_path.write_text(yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False))
+    config_path.write_text(yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True), encoding="utf-8")
 
     console.print(f"[green]✓[/green] Removed catalog '{name}'")
     if not catalogs:
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/agents.py b/src/specify_cli/agents.py
index 4f1ab728f..7fe531606 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/agents.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/agents.py
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ def render_frontmatter(fm: dict) -> str:
         if not fm:
             return ""
 
-        yaml_str = yaml.dump(fm, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False)
+        yaml_str = yaml.dump(fm, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True)
         return f"---\n{yaml_str}---\n"
 
     def _adjust_script_paths(self, frontmatter: dict) -> dict:
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/extensions.py b/src/specify_cli/extensions.py
index 0dca39a0c..b26b1e931 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/extensions.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/extensions.py
@@ -975,8 +975,8 @@ def _load_catalog_config(self, config_path: Path) -> Optional[List[CatalogEntry]
         if not config_path.exists():
             return None
         try:
-            data = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text()) or {}
-        except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError) as e:
+            data = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+        except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError, UnicodeError) as e:
             raise ValidationError(
                 f"Failed to read catalog config {config_path}: {e}"
             )
@@ -1467,8 +1467,8 @@ def _load_yaml_config(self, file_path: Path) -> Dict[str, Any]:
             return {}
 
         try:
-            return yaml.safe_load(file_path.read_text()) or {}
-        except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError):
+            return yaml.safe_load(file_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+        except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError, UnicodeError):
             return {}
 
     def _get_extension_defaults(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
@@ -1659,8 +1659,8 @@ def get_project_config(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
             }
 
         try:
-            return yaml.safe_load(self.config_file.read_text()) or {}
-        except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError):
+            return yaml.safe_load(self.config_file.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+        except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError, UnicodeError):
             return {
                 "installed": [],
                 "settings": {"auto_execute_hooks": True},
@@ -1675,7 +1675,8 @@ def save_project_config(self, config: Dict[str, Any]):
         """
         self.config_file.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
         self.config_file.write_text(
-            yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False)
+            yaml.dump(config, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True),
+            encoding="utf-8",
         )
 
     def register_hooks(self, manifest: ExtensionManifest):
diff --git a/src/specify_cli/presets.py b/src/specify_cli/presets.py
index c53915faa..24d523aa8 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/presets.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/presets.py
@@ -1062,8 +1062,8 @@ def _load_catalog_config(self, config_path: Path) -> Optional[List[PresetCatalog
         if not config_path.exists():
             return None
         try:
-            data = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text()) or {}
-        except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError) as e:
+            data = yaml.safe_load(config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+        except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError, UnicodeError) as e:
             raise PresetValidationError(
                 f"Failed to read catalog config {config_path}: {e}"
             )
diff --git a/tests/test_extensions.py b/tests/test_extensions.py
index c0aa00ad7..cd0f9ba44 100644
--- a/tests/test_extensions.py
+++ b/tests/test_extensions.py
@@ -747,6 +747,18 @@ def test_render_frontmatter(self):
         assert output.endswith("---\n")
         assert "description: Test command" in output
 
+    def test_render_frontmatter_unicode(self):
+        """Test rendering frontmatter preserves non-ASCII characters."""
+        frontmatter = {
+            "description": "Prüfe Konformität der Implementierung"
+        }
+
+        registrar = CommandRegistrar()
+        output = registrar.render_frontmatter(frontmatter)
+
+        assert "Prüfe Konformität" in output
+        assert "\\u" not in output
+
     def test_register_commands_for_claude(self, extension_dir, project_dir):
         """Test registering commands for Claude agent."""
         # Create .claude directory