diff --git a/src/aeg/raf.py b/src/aeg/raf.py
index d18ac49..679cb1b 100644
--- a/src/aeg/raf.py
+++ b/src/aeg/raf.py
@@ -104,6 +104,9 @@ class FileStorage:
             flags = os.O_RDWR | os.O_CREAT | os.O_EXCL
         else:
             raise ValueError(f"Unsupported mode: {mode}")
+        # O_BINARY (Windows only): keep the CRT from translating \r\n in
+        # binary data, which corrupts ciphertext and shifts offsets
+        flags |= getattr(os, "O_BINARY", 0)
         self._fd = os.open(path, flags, 0o644)
         self._closed = False
         self._lock = threading.Lock()
diff --git a/tools/release.py b/tools/release.py
index a6de867..438e8be 100755
--- a/tools/release.py
+++ b/tools/release.py
@@ -305,6 +305,11 @@ def run_benchmark(wheel: Path, py_version: str) -> bool:
 
 def main():
     """Build wheels for all supported Python versions."""
+    # Windows CI consoles default to cp1252; emit ✓/✗/⚠ as UTF-8
+    for stream in (sys.stdout, sys.stderr):
+        if hasattr(stream, "reconfigure"):
+            stream.reconfigure(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace")
+
     # CI matrix jobs build per-platform wheels but never upload; a separate
     # publish job uploads everything once all platforms have succeeded.
     no_upload = "--no-upload" in sys.argv