diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 470cef1..b585af1 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -89,3 +89,10 @@ Running the tests
     pip install tox
     tox
 
+Releasing a new version
+-----------------------
+
+1. Bump version in `setup.py`
+2. Build distribution with `python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel`
+3. Upload to Pypi with `twine upload dist/*`
+4. Verify the new version was uploaded at https://pypi.org/project/junit-xml/#history
diff --git a/junit_xml/__init__.py b/junit_xml/__init__.py
index 0cfef29..0dd4426 100644
--- a/junit_xml/__init__.py
+++ b/junit_xml/__init__.py
@@ -318,8 +318,9 @@ def to_xml_report_file(file_descriptor, test_suites, prettyprint=True, encoding=
     Writes the JUnit XML document to a file.
     """
     xml_string = to_xml_report_string(test_suites, prettyprint=prettyprint, encoding=encoding)
-    # has problems with encoded str with non-ASCII (non-default-encoding) characters!
-    file_descriptor.write(xml_string)
+    # this fixes the problem  with encoded str with non-ASCII (non-default-encoding) characters!
+    string_for_output = xml_string.encode('utf8', 'replace')
+    file_descriptor.write(string_for_output)
 
 
 def _clean_illegal_xml_chars(string_to_clean):