diff --git a/.gitlab/package_build/windows.yml b/.gitlab/package_build/windows.yml
index 839bdf43a1a18d..1c3bb312f186e7 100644
--- a/.gitlab/package_build/windows.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/package_build/windows.yml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
       -e AGENT_FLAVOR=${AGENT_FLAVOR}
       -e OMNIBUS_SOFTWARE_VERSION="${OMNIBUS_SOFTWARE_VERSION}"
       -e OMNIBUS_RUBY_VERSION="${OMNIBUS_RUBY_VERSION}"
-      -e PYTHONUTF8=1
+      -e PYTHONUTF8=1  # Force Python UTF-8 mode to avoid encoding problems
       ${WINBUILDIMAGE}
       powershell -C "c:\mnt\tasks\winbuildscripts\Build-AgentPackages.ps1 -BuildOutOfSource 1 -InstallDeps 1 -CheckGoVersion 1 -BuildUpgrade 1"
     - If ($lastExitCode -ne "0") { throw "Previous command returned $lastExitCode" }