diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 53351aee..57a34865 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,16 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## Unreleased
+
+### Fixed
+
+- `UnicodeDecodeError` when trying to connect to ion database on non-English platforms ([#122](https://github.com/KingsburyLab/pyEQL/issues/122))
+
+### Changed
+
+- Docs: Fix missing close parentheses in docstring (@Andrew S. Rosen)
+
 ## [1.0.0] - 2024-03-17
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index e0b36c7e..078c1a1a 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ install_requires =
     pymatgen>=2023.10.11
     iapws
     monty
-    maggma>=0.57.5
+    maggma>=0.67.0
     phreeqpython
 
 [options.packages.find]
diff --git a/src/pyEQL/__init__.py b/src/pyEQL/__init__.py
index 3f2bebd1..64bc4e87 100644
--- a/src/pyEQL/__init__.py
+++ b/src/pyEQL/__init__.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
 
 # create a Store for the default database
 json_db_file = files("pyEQL") / "database" / "pyeql_db.json"
-IonDB = JSONStore(str(json_db_file), key="formula")
+IonDB = JSONStore(str(json_db_file), key="formula", encoding="utf8")
 # By calling connect on init, we get the expensive JSON reading operation out
 # of the way. Subsequent calls to connect will bypass this and access the already-
 # instantiated Store in memory, which should speed up instantiation of Solution objects.