diff --git a/copyparty/util.py b/copyparty/util.py
index 505c96cb..23f85777 100644
--- a/copyparty/util.py
+++ b/copyparty/util.py
@@ -658,6 +658,9 @@ def read_utf8(log: Optional["NamedLogger"], ap: Union[str, bytes], strict: bool)
     with open(ap, "rb") as f:
         buf = f.read()
 
+    if buf.startswith(b"\xef\xbb\xbf"):
+        buf = buf[3:]
+
     try:
         return buf.decode("utf-8", "strict")
     except UnicodeDecodeError as ex: