diff --git a/git_command.py b/git_command.py
index b29d240e..2b3975ec 100644
--- a/git_command.py
+++ b/git_command.py
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ class GitCommand(object):
           s_in.remove(s)
           continue
         if not hasattr(buf, 'encode'):
-          buf = buf.decode()
+          buf = buf.decode('utf-8', 'backslashreplace')
         if s.std_name == 'stdout':
           self.stdout += buf
         else: