diff --git a/common/arg.cpp b/common/arg.cpp
index c0b71807112..9b8fcbff4e1 100644
--- a/common/arg.cpp
+++ b/common/arg.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #   define NOMINMAX
 #endif
 #include <windows.h>
+#include <shellapi.h>
 #endif
 
 #define JSON_ASSERT GGML_ASSERT
@@ -1626,7 +1627,44 @@ static void add_rpc_devices(const std::string & servers) {
     }
 }
 
+#ifdef _WIN32
+struct utf8_argv {
+    std::vector<std::string> buf;
+    std::vector<char*> ptrs;
+};
+
+static utf8_argv make_utf8_argv() {
+    utf8_argv out;
+    int wargc = 0;
+    LPWSTR* wargv = CommandLineToArgvW(GetCommandLineW(), &wargc);
+    if (!wargv) return out;
+
+    out.buf.reserve(wargc);
+    for (int i = 0; i < wargc; ++i) {
+        int n = WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, WC_ERR_INVALID_CHARS, wargv[i], -1, nullptr, 0, nullptr, nullptr);
+        if (n <= 0) { out.buf.emplace_back(); continue; }
+        auto& s = out.buf.emplace_back();
+        s.resize(static_cast<size_t>(n - 1));
+        (void)WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, wargv[i], -1, s.data(), n, nullptr, nullptr);
+    }
+    LocalFree(wargv);
+
+    out.ptrs.reserve(out.buf.size() + 1);
+    for (auto& s : out.buf) out.ptrs.push_back(s.data());
+    out.ptrs.push_back(nullptr);
+    return out;
+}
+#endif
+
 bool common_params_parse(int argc, char ** argv, common_params & params, llama_example ex, void(*print_usage)(int, char **)) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    auto utf8 = make_utf8_argv();
+    if (!utf8.ptrs.empty()) {
+        argc = static_cast<int>(utf8.buf.size());
+        argv = utf8.ptrs.data();
+    }
+#endif
+
     auto ctx_arg = common_params_parser_init(params, ex, print_usage);
     const common_params params_org = ctx_arg.params; // the example can modify the default params