diff --git a/src/specify_cli/integrations/copilot/__init__.py b/src/specify_cli/integrations/copilot/__init__.py
index ef4470b5f3..9b3f67d701 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/integrations/copilot/__init__.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/integrations/copilot/__init__.py
@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@ def _merge_vscode_settings(src: Path, dst: Path) -> None:
         """
         try:
             existing = json.loads(dst.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
-        except (json.JSONDecodeError, OSError):
+        except (json.JSONDecodeError, UnicodeDecodeError, OSError):
             # Cannot parse existing file (likely JSONC with comments).
             # Skip merge to preserve the user's settings, but show
             # what they should add manually.
diff --git a/tests/integrations/test_integration_copilot.py b/tests/integrations/test_integration_copilot.py
index ccd187f2f2..6474250976 100644
--- a/tests/integrations/test_integration_copilot.py
+++ b/tests/integrations/test_integration_copilot.py
@@ -109,6 +109,21 @@ def test_setup_merges_existing_vscode_settings(self, tmp_path):
         assert settings not in created
         assert not any("settings.json" in k for k in m.files)
 
+    def test_setup_preserves_non_utf8_vscode_settings(self, tmp_path, caplog):
+        from specify_cli.integrations.copilot import CopilotIntegration
+        copilot = CopilotIntegration()
+        vscode_dir = tmp_path / ".vscode"
+        vscode_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+        settings = vscode_dir / "settings.json"
+        original = b'{"editor.fontSize": 14}\xff'
+        settings.write_bytes(original)
+        m = IntegrationManifest("copilot", tmp_path)
+
+        copilot.setup(tmp_path, m)
+
+        assert settings.read_bytes() == original
+        assert "Could not parse" in caplog.text
+
     def test_all_created_files_tracked_in_manifest(self, tmp_path):
         from specify_cli.integrations.copilot import CopilotIntegration
         copilot = CopilotIntegration()