diff --git a/nox/virtualenv.py b/nox/virtualenv.py
index cc948281..b413399e 100644
--- a/nox/virtualenv.py
+++ b/nox/virtualenv.py
@@ -229,6 +229,7 @@ def locate_via_py(version: str) -> str | None:
             check=False,
             text=True,
             capture_output=True,
+            encoding="utf-8",
         )
         if ret.returncode == 0 and ret.stdout:
             return ret.stdout.strip()