diff --git a/w3af/core/data/parsers/doc/open_api/specification.py b/w3af/core/data/parsers/doc/open_api/specification.py
index 4aaa93344e..dc338fcf72 100644
--- a/w3af/core/data/parsers/doc/open_api/specification.py
+++ b/w3af/core/data/parsers/doc/open_api/specification.py
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 
 """
 import json
-import yaml
 import logging
 
 from yaml import load
@@ -232,7 +231,8 @@ def _load_spec_dict(self):
         :return: The dict with the open api data
         """
         try:
-            spec_dict = json.loads(self.http_response.body)
+            decoded_response = self.http_response.body.decode('ascii', 'ignore')
+            spec_dict = json.loads(decoded_response)
         except ValueError:
             # Seems like the OpenAPI was specified using Yaml instead of
             # JSON. Let's parse the Yaml data!
diff --git a/w3af/core/data/parsers/doc/open_api/tests/test_specification.py b/w3af/core/data/parsers/doc/open_api/tests/test_specification.py
index e6e96efb6a..3eb9636167 100644
--- a/w3af/core/data/parsers/doc/open_api/tests/test_specification.py
+++ b/w3af/core/data/parsers/doc/open_api/tests/test_specification.py
@@ -595,6 +595,18 @@ def test_parameter_handler_multiple_paths_and_headers(self):
         handler = SpecificationHandler(http_response)
         self.check_parameter_setting(handler)
 
+    def test_specification_handler_can_handle_spec_with_non_ascii_chars(self):
+        with open(
+                'w3af/core/data/parsers/doc/open_api/tests/data/swagger-special-chars.json',
+        ) as file_:
+            spec_as_string = file_.read()
+        http_response = self.generate_response(spec_as_string)
+        spec_handler = SpecificationHandler(http_response)
+        result = spec_handler.get_api_information()
+        for _ in result:
+            pass
+        self.assertFalse(spec_handler._parsing_errors)
+
     def check_parameter_setting(self, spec_handler):
         data = [d for d in spec_handler.get_api_information()]
         self.assertIsNotNone(data)