diff --git a/compile.mk b/compile.mk
index 96ea4b8d..8c3e4d7d 100644
--- a/compile.mk
+++ b/compile.mk
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ endif
 ifdef ARCH_WIN
 	FLAGS += -DARCH_WIN
 	FLAGS += -D_USE_MATH_DEFINES
+	FLAGS += -municode
 	CXXFLAGS += -Wsuggest-override
 endif
 
diff --git a/include/common.hpp b/include/common.hpp
index d49446e9..cc1594e4 100644
--- a/include/common.hpp
+++ b/include/common.hpp
@@ -164,3 +164,23 @@ struct Exception : std::runtime_error {
 
 
 } // namespace rack
+
+
+#if defined ARCH_WIN
+// Windows C standard functions are ASCII-8 instead of UTF-8, so redirect these functions to wrappers which convert to UTF-8
+#define fopen fopen_utf8
+#define remove remove_utf8
+#define rename rename_utf8
+
+extern "C" {
+FILE* fopen_utf8(const char* filename, const char* mode);
+int remove_utf8(const char* path);
+int rename_utf8(const char* oldname, const char* newname);
+}
+
+namespace std {
+	using ::fopen_utf8;
+	using ::remove_utf8;
+	using ::rename_utf8;
+}
+#endif
diff --git a/src/common.cpp b/src/common.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9639844a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#include <common.hpp>
+
+
+#if defined ARCH_WIN
+#include <windows.h>
+
+static wchar_t* utf8_to_w(const char* str) {
+	int len = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, str, -1, 0, 0);
+	wchar_t* strW = (wchar_t*) malloc(len * sizeof(wchar_t));
+	MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, str, -1, strW, len);
+	return strW;
+}
+
+FILE* fopen_utf8(const char* filename, const char* mode) {
+	wchar_t* filenameW = utf8_to_w(filename);
+	wchar_t* modeW = utf8_to_w(mode);
+	FILE* file = _wfopen(filenameW, modeW);
+	free(filenameW);
+	free(modeW);
+	return file;
+}
+
+int remove_utf8(const char* path) {
+	wchar_t* pathW = utf8_to_w(path);
+	int ret = _wremove(pathW);
+	free(pathW);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+int rename_utf8(const char* oldname, const char* newname) {
+	wchar_t* oldnameW = utf8_to_w(oldname);
+	wchar_t* newnameW = utf8_to_w(newname);
+	int ret = _wrename(oldnameW, newnameW);
+	free(oldnameW);
+	free(newnameW);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+#endif
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 6cd1dd07..8d723fc7 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 #if defined ARCH_WIN
 	// Windows global mutex to prevent multiple instances
 	// Handle will be closed by Windows when the process ends
-	HANDLE instanceMutex = CreateMutexA(NULL, true, app::APP_NAME.c_str());
+	HANDLE instanceMutex = CreateMutexW(NULL, true, string::toWstring(app::APP_NAME).c_str());
 	if (GetLastError() == ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS) {
 		osdialog_message(OSDIALOG_ERROR, OSDIALOG_OK, "Rack is already running. Multiple Rack instances are not supported.");
 		exit(1);
diff --git a/src/plugin.cpp b/src/plugin.cpp
index 0ed8931b..ecb1e063 100644
--- a/src/plugin.cpp
+++ b/src/plugin.cpp
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 #if defined ARCH_WIN
 	#include <windows.h>
 	#include <direct.h>
-	#define mkdir(_dir, _perms) _mkdir(_dir)
 #else
 	#include <dlfcn.h>
 #endif
@@ -65,7 +64,8 @@ static InitCallback loadLibrary(Plugin* plugin) {
 	// Load dynamic/shared library
 #if defined ARCH_WIN
 	SetErrorMode(SEM_NOOPENFILEERRORBOX | SEM_FAILCRITICALERRORS);
-	HINSTANCE handle = LoadLibrary(libraryFilename.c_str());
+	std::wstring libraryFilenameW = string::toWstring(libraryFilename);
+	HINSTANCE handle = LoadLibraryW(libraryFilenameW.c_str());
 	SetErrorMode(0);
 	if (!handle) {
 		int error = GetLastError();
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ void init() {
 	loadPlugin("");
 
 	// Get user plugins directory
-	mkdir(asset::pluginsPath.c_str(), 0755);
+	system::createDirectory(asset::pluginsPath);
 
 	// Extract packages and load plugins
 	extractPackages(asset::pluginsPath);
diff --git a/src/system.cpp b/src/system.cpp
index 84460c39..53eba432 100644
--- a/src/system.cpp
+++ b/src/system.cpp
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ void copyFile(const std::string& srcPath, const std::string& destPath) {
 void createDirectory(const std::string& path) {
 #if defined ARCH_WIN
 	std::wstring pathW = string::toWstring(path);
-	CreateDirectoryW(pathW.c_str(), NULL);
+	_wmkdir(pathW.c_str());
 #else
 	mkdir(path.c_str(), 0755);
 #endif
@@ -148,7 +148,12 @@ void createDirectories(const std::string& path) {
 
 
 void removeDirectory(const std::string& path) {
+#if defined ARCH_WIN
+	std::wstring pathW = string::toWstring(path);
+	_wrmdir(pathW.c_str());
+#else
 	rmdir(path.c_str());
+#endif
 }