diff --git a/build/scripts/tests.gant b/build/scripts/tests.gant
index fd2d537b9fbc..d23155dfd888 100644
--- a/build/scripts/tests.gant
+++ b/build/scripts/tests.gant
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ if (System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase().startsWith("mac")) {
   if (vendor != null && vendor.toLowerCase().contains("apple")) {
     args << "-d32"
   }
-  args << "-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8"
 };
 
 args << "-Djna.nosys=true"
diff --git a/build/scripts/utils.gant b/build/scripts/utils.gant
index 0317193ce6c3..ab82ef6409fb 100644
--- a/build/scripts/utils.gant
+++ b/build/scripts/utils.gant
@@ -338,6 +338,7 @@ binding.setVariable("commonJvmArgsForTests", {
 
   return [
     "-ea",
+    "-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8",
     "-Dio.netty.leakDetectionLevel=PARANOID",
     "-server",
     "-Xbootclasspath/p:${projectBuilder.moduleOutput(findModule("boot"))}",