diff --git a/avocado/core/defaults.py b/avocado/core/defaults.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b84eeb7512d14dd10eb54d061d6ce2201a32cf64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/avocado/core/defaults.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+#
+# See LICENSE for more details.
+#
+# Copyright: Red Hat Inc. 2018
+# Author: Cleber Rosa <crosa@redhat.com>
+
+"""
+The Avocado core defaults
+"""
+
+#: The encoding used by default on all data input
+ENCODING = 'utf-8'
diff --git a/avocado/core/test.py b/avocado/core/test.py
index 4ab33b4383e6375ca5ca18dd4c3f3993954ea68a..d59bf397782e06d40b82c41656338f0b8d634a6b 100644
--- a/avocado/core/test.py
+++ b/avocado/core/test.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ from difflib import unified_diff
 from six import string_types, iteritems
 
 from . import data_dir
+from . import defaults
 from . import exceptions
 from . import output
 from . import parameters
@@ -1133,7 +1134,7 @@ class SimpleTest(Test):
 
             # process.run uses shlex.split(), the self.path needs to be escaped
             result = process.run(self._command, verbose=True,
-                                 env=test_params)
+                                 env=test_params, encoding=defaults.ENCODING)
 
             self._log_detailed_cmd_info(result)
         except process.CmdError as details: