diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index d3825c09..5de38f76 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -24,8 +24,13 @@ java {
     withJavadocJar()
 }
 
+tasks.withType(JavaCompile).configureEach {
+    options.encoding = 'UTF-8'
+}
+
 javadoc {
     source = sourceSets.main.allJava
+    options.encoding = 'UTF-8'
 }
 
 signing {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/apple/itunes/storekit/verification/SignedDataVerifier.java b/src/main/java/com/apple/itunes/storekit/verification/SignedDataVerifier.java
index 33601d9f..480e0ccc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/apple/itunes/storekit/verification/SignedDataVerifier.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/apple/itunes/storekit/verification/SignedDataVerifier.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.security.PublicKey;
 import java.security.interfaces.ECPublicKey;
 import java.util.Base64;
@@ -218,7 +219,7 @@ protected <T extends DecodedSignedData> T decodeSignedObject(String signedObject
     }
 
     protected <T extends DecodedSignedData> T parseJWTPayload(Class<T> clazz, DecodedJWT jwt) throws VerificationException {
-        String payload = new String(Base64.getUrlDecoder().decode(jwt.getPayload()));
+        String payload = new String(Base64.getUrlDecoder().decode(jwt.getPayload()), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
         try {
             return objectMapper.readValue(payload, clazz);
         } catch (JsonProcessingException e) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/apple/itunes/storekit/verification/SignedDataVerifierTest.java b/src/test/java/com/apple/itunes/storekit/verification/SignedDataVerifierTest.java
index de602c80..76fa69ee 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/apple/itunes/storekit/verification/SignedDataVerifierTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/apple/itunes/storekit/verification/SignedDataVerifierTest.java
@@ -2,16 +2,19 @@
 
 package com.apple.itunes.storekit.verification;
 
+import com.apple.itunes.storekit.model.AdvancedCommerceTransactionInfo;
 import com.apple.itunes.storekit.model.Environment;
 import com.apple.itunes.storekit.model.JWSRenewalInfoDecodedPayload;
 import com.apple.itunes.storekit.model.JWSTransactionDecodedPayload;
 import com.apple.itunes.storekit.model.NotificationTypeV2;
 import com.apple.itunes.storekit.model.ResponseBodyV2DecodedPayload;
+import com.apple.itunes.storekit.util.SignedDataCreator;
 import com.apple.itunes.storekit.util.TestingUtility;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
 
 public class SignedDataVerifierTest {
 
@@ -84,4 +87,22 @@ public void testMalformedJWTWithMalformedData() throws IOException {
         VerificationException exception = Assertions.assertThrows(VerificationException.class, () -> verifier.verifyAndDecodeNotification("a.b.c"));
         Assertions.assertEquals(VerificationStatus.VERIFICATION_FAILURE, exception.getStatus());
     }
+
+    /**
+     * The payload of a JWS is always UTF-8 encoded, so decoding it must not depend on the default charset of the JVM.
+     * The expected values below are written as escape sequences so that this test does not depend on the encoding
+     * used to compile it either.
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testNonAsciiDataDecodingIsIndependentOfTheDefaultCharset() throws VerificationException, IOException, NoSuchAlgorithmException {
+        String signedTransaction = SignedDataCreator.createSignedDataFromJson("models/signedTransactionWithNonAsciiData.json");
+
+        JWSTransactionDecodedPayload transaction = TestingUtility.getSignedPayloadVerifier().verifyAndDecodeTransaction(signedTransaction);
+
+        AdvancedCommerceTransactionInfo advancedCommerceInfo = transaction.getAdvancedCommerceInfo();
+        Assertions.assertEquals("Abonnement Caf\u00e9 \u2014 5,99 \u20ac par mois", advancedCommerceInfo.getDescriptors().getDescription());
+        Assertions.assertEquals("Caf\u00e9 Premium", advancedCommerceInfo.getDescriptors().getDisplayName());
+        Assertions.assertEquals("\u30d7\u30ec\u30df\u30a2\u30e0\u6a5f\u80fd", advancedCommerceInfo.getItems().get(0).getDescription());
+        Assertions.assertEquals("\u30d7\u30ec\u30df\u30a2\u30e0", advancedCommerceInfo.getItems().get(0).getDisplayName());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/resources/models/signedTransactionWithNonAsciiData.json b/src/test/resources/models/signedTransactionWithNonAsciiData.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cfdb2c5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/models/signedTransactionWithNonAsciiData.json
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+{
+  "transactionId":"23456",
+  "originalTransactionId":"12345",
+  "bundleId":"com.example",
+  "productId":"com.example.product",
+  "purchaseDate":1698148900000,
+  "signedDate":1698148900000,
+  "environment":"LocalTesting",
+  "advancedCommerceInfo": {
+    "descriptors": {
+      "description": "Abonnement Café — 5,99 € par mois",
+      "displayName": "Café Premium"
+    },
+    "items": [
+      {
+        "SKU": "com.example.sku.premium",
+        "description": "プレミアム機能",
+        "displayName": "プレミアム",
+        "price": 9990
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}