diff --git a/.github/workflows/format.yml b/.github/workflows/format.yml
index ad54d7cf..134fe6b8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/format.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/format.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
       shell: bash
       run: |
         pip install -r tools/reccmp/requirements.txt
-        pylint tools
+        pylint tools --ignore=build,tests
         black --check tools
 
     - name: Run clang-format
diff --git a/tools/checkorder/checkorder.py b/tools/checkorder/checkorder.py
index 2398ad30..0ca1d102 100644
--- a/tools/checkorder/checkorder.py
+++ b/tools/checkorder/checkorder.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def check_file(filename: str, verbose: bool = False) -> bool:
     """Open and read the given file, then check whether the code blocks
     are in order. If verbose, print each block."""
 
-    with open(filename, "r") as f:
+    with open(filename, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
         code_blocks = find_code_blocks(f)
 
     bad_comments = [