diff --git a/greek_stemmer/__init__.py b/greek_stemmer/__init__.py
index f198cd8..f5d2e29 100644
--- a/greek_stemmer/__init__.py
+++ b/greek_stemmer/__init__.py
@@ -336,8 +336,8 @@ def ends_on_vowel2(self, word):
     def load_settings(self):
         custom_rules = ""
         with open(os.path.join(
-                  os.path.dirname(__file__), 'stemmer.yml'), 'r') as f:
-            custom_rules = yaml.load(f.read())
+                  os.path.dirname(__file__), 'stemmer.yml'), 'r', encoding='utf8') as f:
+            custom_rules = yaml.load(f.read(), Loader=yaml.FullLoader)
         return custom_rules
 
     def long_stem_list(self, word):