diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/cache.py b/src/pip/_internal/cache.py
index 1edcc76722b..e51edd5157e 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/cache.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/cache.py
@@ -286,4 +286,4 @@ def record_download_origin(cache_dir: str, download_info: DirectUrl) -> None:
                     cache_dir,
                     download_info.url,
                 )
-        origin_path.write_text(download_info.to_json())
+        origin_path.write_text(download_info.to_json(), encoding="utf-8")