diff --git a/doc/tools/makerst.py b/doc/tools/makerst.py
index 9012de03b34..020f3108da9 100755
--- a/doc/tools/makerst.py
+++ b/doc/tools/makerst.py
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ def make_rst_class(class_def, state, dry_run, output_dir):  # type: (ClassDef, S
     class_name = class_def.name
 
     if dry_run:
-        f = open(os.devnull, "w")
+        f = open(os.devnull, "w", encoding="utf-8")
     else:
         f = open(os.path.join(output_dir, "class_" + class_name.lower() + '.rst'), 'w', encoding='utf-8')
 
diff --git a/misc/hooks/pre-commit-makerst b/misc/hooks/pre-commit-makerst
index d9b684e73b8..b990788b991 100755
--- a/misc/hooks/pre-commit-makerst
+++ b/misc/hooks/pre-commit-makerst
@@ -2,4 +2,11 @@
 
 # Git pre-commit hook that checks the class reference syntax using makerst.py.
 
-doc/tools/makerst.py doc/classes modules --dry-run
+# Workaround because we can't execute the .py file directly on windows
+PYTHON=python
+py_ver=$($PYTHON -c "import sys; print(sys.version_info.major)")
+if [[ "$py_ver" != "3" ]]; then
+  PYTHON+=3
+fi
+
+$PYTHON doc/tools/makerst.py doc/classes modules --dry-run