diff --git a/scripts/update_dependencies.py b/scripts/update_dependencies.py
index a46a95f8a..c70cf8f8f 100644
--- a/scripts/update_dependencies.py
+++ b/scripts/update_dependencies.py
@@ -11,6 +11,15 @@ def read_version_from_pyproject(file_path):
     return None
 
 
+def get_version_from_pypi(package_name):
+    import requests
+
+    response = requests.get(f"https://pypi.org/pypi/{package_name}/json")
+    if response.ok:
+        return response.json()["info"]["version"]
+    return None
+
+
 def update_pyproject_dependency(pyproject_path, version):
     pattern = re.compile(r'langflow-base = \{ path = "\./src/backend/base", develop = true \}')
     replacement = f'langflow-base = "^{version}"'
@@ -35,7 +44,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
 
     # Reading version and updating pyproject.toml
     langflow_base_path = Path(__file__).resolve().parent / "../src/backend/base/pyproject.toml"
-    version = read_version_from_pyproject(langflow_base_path)
+    version = get_version_from_pypi("langflow-base")
     if version:
         update_pyproject_dependency(pyproject_path, version)
     else:
diff --git a/src/backend/base/langflow/initial_setup/setup.py b/src/backend/base/langflow/initial_setup/setup.py
index 33e839689..f2181f85e 100644
--- a/src/backend/base/langflow/initial_setup/setup.py
+++ b/src/backend/base/langflow/initial_setup/setup.py
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ def load_starter_projects():
     starter_projects = []
     folder = Path(__file__).parent / "starter_projects"
     for file in folder.glob("*.json"):
-        project = orjson.loads(file.read_text())
+        project = orjson.loads(file.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
         starter_projects.append((file, project))
         logger.info(f"Loaded starter project {file}")
     return starter_projects
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ def get_project_data(project):
 
 def update_project_file(project_path, project, updated_project_data):
     project["data"] = updated_project_data
-    with open(project_path, "w") as f:
+    with open(project_path, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
         f.write(orjson.dumps(project, option=orjson.OPT_INDENT_2).decode())
     logger.info(f"Updated starter project {project['name']} file")
 
diff --git a/src/backend/base/langflow/interface/custom/directory_reader/directory_reader.py b/src/backend/base/langflow/interface/custom/directory_reader/directory_reader.py
index 34ca2491b..b4ebefaf1 100644
--- a/src/backend/base/langflow/interface/custom/directory_reader/directory_reader.py
+++ b/src/backend/base/langflow/interface/custom/directory_reader/directory_reader.py
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ class DirectoryReader:
         """
         if not os.path.isfile(file_path):
             return None
-        with open(file_path, "r") as file:
+        with open(file_path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as file:
             # UnicodeDecodeError: 'charmap' codec can't decode byte 0x9d in position 3069: character maps to <undefined>
             try:
                 return file.read()