diff --git a/helpers/_util.py b/helpers/_util.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..277a07f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helpers/_util.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+"""Shared helpers for command-line entry points."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import sys
+
+
+def configure_stdout() -> None:
+    """Keep progress output safe when the locale encoding is not UTF-8."""
+    if hasattr(sys.stdout, "reconfigure"):
+        sys.stdout.reconfigure(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace")
diff --git a/helpers/grade.py b/helpers/grade.py
index becf6fb4..a706df4f 100644
--- a/helpers/grade.py
+++ b/helpers/grade.py
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@
 import tempfile
 from pathlib import Path
 
+try:
+    from _util import configure_stdout
+except ModuleNotFoundError:
+    from helpers._util import configure_stdout
+
 
 PRESETS: dict[str, str] = {
     # Subtle baseline — barely perceptible cleanup. No color shift.
@@ -292,6 +297,7 @@ def apply_grade(input_path: Path, output_path: Path, filter_string: str) -> None
 
 
 def main() -> None:
+    configure_stdout()
     ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Apply a color grade via ffmpeg filter chain")
     ap.add_argument("input", type=Path, nargs="?", help="Input video")
     ap.add_argument("-o", "--output", type=Path, help="Output video")
diff --git a/helpers/pack_transcripts.py b/helpers/pack_transcripts.py
index 036a1276..8ead8beb 100644
--- a/helpers/pack_transcripts.py
+++ b/helpers/pack_transcripts.py
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
 
+try:
+    from _util import configure_stdout
+except ModuleNotFoundError:
+    from helpers._util import configure_stdout
+
 
 def format_time(seconds: float) -> str:
     """Format a time in seconds as "NNN.NN" with fixed 6-char width for alignment."""
@@ -163,6 +168,7 @@ def render_markdown(entries: list[tuple[str, float, list[dict]]], silence_thresh
 
 
 def main() -> None:
+    configure_stdout()
     ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Pack Scribe transcripts into takes_packed.md")
     ap.add_argument("--edit-dir", type=Path, required=True, help="Edit directory containing transcripts/")
     ap.add_argument(
diff --git a/helpers/render.py b/helpers/render.py
index e464c476..d3bd694a 100644
--- a/helpers/render.py
+++ b/helpers/render.py
@@ -29,6 +29,12 @@
 from fractions import Fraction
 from pathlib import Path
 
+try:
+    from _util import configure_stdout
+except ModuleNotFoundError:
+    from helpers._util import configure_stdout
+
+
 try:
     from grade import get_preset, auto_grade_for_clip  # same directory
 except Exception:
@@ -677,6 +683,7 @@ def build_final_composite(
 
 
 def main() -> None:
+    configure_stdout()
     ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Render a video from an EDL")
     ap.add_argument("edl", type=Path, help="Path to edl.json")
     ap.add_argument("-o", "--output", type=Path, required=True, help="Output video path")
diff --git a/helpers/transcribe_batch.py b/helpers/transcribe_batch.py
index aa665260..a78dcd21 100644
--- a/helpers/transcribe_batch.py
+++ b/helpers/transcribe_batch.py
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@
 from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, as_completed
 from pathlib import Path
 
+try:
+    from _util import configure_stdout
+except ModuleNotFoundError:
+    from helpers._util import configure_stdout
 from transcribe import load_api_key, transcribe_one, transcript_path
 
 
@@ -35,6 +39,7 @@ def find_videos(videos_dir: Path) -> list[Path]:
 
 
 def main() -> None:
+    configure_stdout()
     ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Parallel batch transcription of a videos directory")
     ap.add_argument("videos_dir", type=Path, help="Directory containing source videos")
     ap.add_argument(
diff --git a/tests/test_stdout_encoding.py b/tests/test_stdout_encoding.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..00b41c20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_stdout_encoding.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).parents[1]
+HELPERS = (
+    "pack_transcripts.py",
+    "render.py",
+    "grade.py",
+    "transcribe_batch.py",
+)
+
+
+class StdoutEncodingTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_helpers_handle_ascii_redirected_stdout(self):
+        probe = (
+            "import atexit, runpy, sys; "
+            "helper = sys.argv[1]; "
+            "atexit.register(lambda: print('→')); "
+            "sys.argv = [helper, '--help']; "
+            "runpy.run_path(helper, run_name='__main__')"
+        )
+        for helper in HELPERS:
+            with self.subTest(helper=helper):
+                env = os.environ.copy()
+                env["PYTHONIOENCODING"] = "ascii"
+                result = subprocess.run(
+                    [sys.executable, "-c", probe, helper],
+                    cwd=REPO_ROOT / "helpers",
+                    env=env,
+                    stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+                    stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+                    check=False,
+                )
+
+                self.assertEqual(result.returncode, 0, result.stderr.decode("utf-8"))
+                self.assertTrue(result.stdout.decode("utf-8").endswith("→\n"))
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()