diff --git a/imgfac/ApplicationConfiguration.py b/imgfac/ApplicationConfiguration.py
index 5a8fdae..8da7ec9 100644
--- a/imgfac/ApplicationConfiguration.py
+++ b/imgfac/ApplicationConfiguration.py
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ def dencode(a_dict, encoding='ascii'):
                     return new_dict
 
                 config_file = open(configuration.config)
-                uconfig = json.load(config_file, encoding="utf-8")
+                uconfig = json.load(config_file)
                 config_file.close()
                 defaults = uconfig
                 print(defaults)