diff --git a/src/core/RagePhoto.c b/src/core/RagePhoto.c
index 80b6de2..0d6d386 100644
--- a/src/core/RagePhoto.c
+++ b/src/core/RagePhoto.c
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*****************************************************************************
 * libragephoto RAGE Photo Parser
-* Copyright (C) 2021-2024 Syping
+* Copyright (C) 2021-2025 Syping
 *
 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
 * are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
-#ifdef RAGEPHOTO_BENCHMARK
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #ifndef VC_EXTRALEAN
 #define VC_EXTRALEAN
@@ -30,22 +29,19 @@
 #ifndef WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
 #define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
 #endif
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <io.h>
 #include <windows.h>
-#else
+#endif
+
+#ifdef RAGEPHOTO_BENCHMARK
+#ifndef _WIN32
 #include <time.h>
 #endif
 #endif
 
-#if defined(UNICODE_ICONV)
+#ifdef UNICODE_ICONV
 #include <iconv.h>
-#elif defined(UNICODE_WINCVT)
-#ifndef VC_EXTRALEAN
-#define VC_EXTRALEAN
-#endif
-#ifndef WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
-#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
-#endif
-#include <windows.h>
 #endif
 
 /* RAGEPHOTO LIBRARY GLOBALS */
@@ -53,6 +49,40 @@ int libraryflags = 0;
 const char* nullchar = "";
 
 /* BEGIN OF STATIC LIBRARY FUNCTIONS */
+static inline FILE* openFile(const char *filename, char accessMode)
+{
+    if (accessMode != 'r' && accessMode != 'w')
+        return NULL;
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    int wideCharSize = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, filename, -1, NULL, 0);
+    if (wideCharSize <= 0)
+        return NULL;
+    wchar_t *wideCharFilename = (wchar_t*)malloc(wideCharSize * sizeof(wchar_t));
+    MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, filename, -1, wideCharFilename, wideCharSize);
+    HANDLE hFile = CreateFileW(wideCharFilename,
+                               accessMode == 'r' ? GENERIC_READ : GENERIC_WRITE,
+                               accessMode == 'r' ? FILE_SHARE_READ : 0,
+                               NULL,
+                               accessMode == 'r' ? OPEN_EXISTING : CREATE_ALWAYS,
+                               FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,
+                               NULL);
+    free(wideCharFilename);
+    int fd = _open_osfhandle((intptr_t)hFile, accessMode == 'r' ? _O_RDONLY | _O_BINARY : _O_WRONLY | _O_BINARY);
+    if (fd == -1) {
+        CloseHandle(hFile);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    FILE *file = _fdopen(fd, accessMode == 'r' ? "rb" : "wb");
+    if (!file) {
+        _close(fd);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+#else
+    FILE *file = fopen(filename, accessMode == 'r' ? "rb" : "wb");
+#endif
+    return file;
+}
+
 static inline size_t readBuffer(const char *input, void *output, size_t *pos, size_t outputLen, size_t inputLen)
 {
     size_t readLen = 0;
@@ -601,12 +631,7 @@ bool ragephoto_load(ragephoto_t instance_t, const char *data, size_t size)
 bool ragephoto_loadfile(ragephoto_t instance_t, const char *filename)
 {
     RagePhotoInstance *instance = (RagePhotoInstance*)instance_t;
-#if defined(_WIN32)
-    FILE *file = NULL;
-    fopen_s(&file, filename, "rb");
-#else
-    FILE *file = fopen(filename, "rb");
-#endif
+    FILE *file = openFile(filename, 'r');
     if (!file)
         return false;
 #if defined(_WIN64)
@@ -1010,12 +1035,7 @@ bool ragephoto_savefilef(ragephoto_t instance_t, const char *filename, uint32_t
         free(data);
         return false;
     }
-#ifdef _WIN32
-    FILE *file = NULL;
-    fopen_s(&file, filename, "wb");
-#else
-    FILE *file = fopen(filename, "wb");
-#endif
+    FILE *file = openFile(filename, 'w');
     if (!file) {
         free(data);
         return false;
diff --git a/src/core/RagePhoto.cpp b/src/core/RagePhoto.cpp
index eee0570..f035bde 100644
--- a/src/core/RagePhoto.cpp
+++ b/src/core/RagePhoto.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*****************************************************************************
 * libragephoto RAGE Photo Parser
-* Copyright (C) 2021-2024 Syping
+* Copyright (C) 2021-2025 Syping
 *
 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
 * are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
@@ -28,6 +28,18 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include <iterator>
 
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#ifndef VC_EXTRALEAN
+#define VC_EXTRALEAN
+#endif
+#ifndef WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
+#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
+#endif
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <io.h>
+#include <windows.h>
+#endif
+
 #ifdef RAGEPHOTO_BENCHMARK
 #include <chrono>
 #endif
@@ -37,14 +49,12 @@
 #include <locale>
 #elif defined UNICODE_ICONV
 #include <iconv.h>
-#elif defined UNICODE_WINCVT
-#ifndef VC_EXTRALEAN
-#define VC_EXTRALEAN
 #endif
-#ifndef WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
-#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
-#endif
-#include <windows.h>
+
+#if defined(_WIN32) && (RAGEPHOTO_CXX_STD >= 17) && (__cplusplus >= 201703L)
+#include <filesystem>
+#elif defined(_WIN32)
+#include <memory>
 #endif
 
 /* CLASSIC RAGEPHOTO TYPEDEF */
@@ -55,6 +65,18 @@ int libraryflags = 0;
 const char* nullchar = "";
 
 /* BEGIN OF STATIC LIBRARY FUNCTIONS */
+#if defined(_WIN32) && ((RAGEPHOTO_CXX_STD < 17) || (__cplusplus < 201703L))
+inline std::unique_ptr<wchar_t> convertPath(const char* path)
+{
+    int wideCharSize = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, path, -1, nullptr, 0);
+    if (wideCharSize <= 0)
+        return std::unique_ptr<wchar_t>(new wchar_t[1]());
+    std::unique_ptr<wchar_t> wideCharPath(new wchar_t[wideCharSize]);
+    MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, path, -1, wideCharPath.get(), wideCharSize);
+    return wideCharPath;
+}
+#endif
+
 inline size_t readBuffer(const char *input, void *output, size_t *pos, size_t outputLen, size_t inputLen)
 {
     size_t readLen = 0;
@@ -589,9 +611,15 @@ bool RagePhoto::load(const std::string &data)
     return load(data.data(), data.size(), m_data, m_parser);
 }
 
-bool RagePhoto::loadFile(const std::string &filename)
+bool RagePhoto::loadFile(const char *filename)
 {
+#if defined(_WIN32) && (RAGEPHOTO_CXX_STD >= 17) && (__cplusplus >= 201703L)
+    std::ifstream ifs(std::filesystem::u8path(filename), std::ios::in | std::ios::binary);
+#elif defined(_WIN32)
+    std::ifstream ifs(convertPath(filename).get(), std::ios::in | std::ios::binary);
+#else
     std::ifstream ifs(filename, std::ios::in | std::ios::binary);
+#endif
     if (ifs.is_open()) {
         std::string sdata(std::istreambuf_iterator<char>{ifs}, {});
         ifs.close();
@@ -974,7 +1002,13 @@ bool RagePhoto::saveFile(const char *filename, uint32_t photoFormat)
     bool ok;
     const std::string sdata = save(photoFormat, &ok);
     if (ok) {
+#if defined(_WIN32) && (RAGEPHOTO_CXX_STD >= 17) && (__cplusplus >= 201703L)
+        std::ofstream ofs(std::filesystem::u8path(filename), std::ios::out | std::ios::binary | std::ios::trunc);
+#elif defined(_WIN32)
+        std::ofstream ofs(convertPath(filename).get(), std::ios::out | std::ios::binary | std::ios::trunc);
+#else
         std::ofstream ofs(filename, std::ios::out | std::ios::binary | std::ios::trunc);
+#endif
         if (!ofs.is_open()) {
             m_data->error = Error::Uninitialised; // 0
             return false;
diff --git a/src/core/ragephoto_cxx.hpp b/src/core/ragephoto_cxx.hpp
index d5f05d4..c205266 100644
--- a/src/core/ragephoto_cxx.hpp
+++ b/src/core/ragephoto_cxx.hpp
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*****************************************************************************
 * libragephoto RAGE Photo Parser
-* Copyright (C) 2021-2024 Syping
+* Copyright (C) 2021-2025 Syping
 *
 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
 * are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ public:
     /** Loads a Photo from a file.
     * \param filename File to load
     */
-    bool loadFile(const std::string &filename);
+    bool loadFile(const char *filename);
     int32_t error() const; /**< Returns the last error occurred. */
     uint32_t format() const; /**< Returns the Photo Format (GTA V or RDR 2). */
     const std::string jpeg() const; /**< Returns the Photo JPEG data. */