diff --git a/capa/main.py b/capa/main.py
index 474a435ab..5033545d5 100644
--- a/capa/main.py
+++ b/capa/main.py
@@ -446,7 +446,9 @@ def main(argv=None):
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
         description=desc, epilog=epilog, formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter
     )
-    parser.add_argument("sample", type=str, help="path to sample to analyze")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "sample", type=lambda s: s.decode(sys.getfilesystemencoding()), help="path to sample to analyze"
+    )
     parser.add_argument("--version", action="version", version="%(prog)s {:s}".format(capa.version.__version__))
     parser.add_argument(
         "-r",
@@ -493,7 +495,7 @@ def main(argv=None):
     try:
         taste = get_file_taste(args.sample)
     except IOError as e:
-        logger.error("%s", str(e))
+        logger.error("%s", e.args[0])
         return -1
 
     # py2 doesn't know about cp65001, which is a variant of utf-8 on windows
diff --git a/tests/fixtures.py b/tests/fixtures.py
index ff861875d..83d0b6529 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures.py
@@ -146,6 +146,8 @@ def get_data_path_by_name(name):
         return os.path.join(CD, "data", "64d9f7d96b99467f36e22fada623c3bb.dll_")
     elif name.startswith("82bf6"):
         return os.path.join(CD, "data", "82BF6347ACF15E5D883715DC289D8A2B.exe_")
+    elif name.startswith("ping"):
+        return os.path.join(CD, "data", "ping.exe_")
     else:
         raise ValueError("unexpected sample fixture")
 
@@ -532,3 +534,8 @@ def z499c2_extractor():
 @pytest.fixture
 def al_khaser_x86_extractor():
     return get_extractor(get_data_path_by_name("al-khaser x86"))
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def ping_extractor():
+    return get_extractor(get_data_path_by_name("ping"))
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index 7eb84883c..1a60159c2 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright (C) 2020 FireEye, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 #  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -57,6 +58,35 @@ def test_main_single_rule(z9324d_extractor, tmpdir):
     )
 
 
+@pytest.mark.xfail(sys.version_info >= (3, 0), reason="vivsect only works on py2")
+def test_main_non_ascii_filename(ping_extractor, tmpdir, capsys):
+    # on py2.7, need to be careful about str (which can hold bytes)
+    #  vs unicode (which is only unicode characters).
+    # on py3, this should not be needed.
+    #
+    # here we print a string with unicode characters in it
+    # (specifically, a byte string with utf-8 bytes in it, see file encoding)
+    NON_ASCII_FILENAME = "täst1.exe"
+    tmp_file_kernel32_copy = tmpdir.mkdir("capa").join(NON_ASCII_FILENAME)
+    import shutil
+
+    shutil.copy(ping_extractor.path, tmp_file_kernel32_copy.strpath)
+    assert capa.main.main(["-q", tmp_file_kernel32_copy.strpath]) == 0
+
+    std = capsys.readouterr()
+    # but here, we have to use a unicode instance,
+    # because capsys has decoded the output for us.
+    assert NON_ASCII_FILENAME.decode("utf-8") in std.out
+
+
+@pytest.mark.xfail(sys.version_info >= (3, 0), reason="vivsect only works on py2")
+def test_main_non_ascii_filename_nonexistent(tmpdir, caplog):
+    NON_ASCII_FILENAME = "täst1.exe"
+    assert capa.main.main(["-q", NON_ASCII_FILENAME]) == -1
+
+    assert NON_ASCII_FILENAME.decode("utf-8") in caplog.text
+
+
 @pytest.mark.xfail(sys.version_info >= (3, 0), reason="vivsect only works on py2")
 def test_main_shellcode(z499c2_extractor):
     path = z499c2_extractor.path