From fa83e3a81ddb2170a0d7b0d86b94641a80d026ee Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: MarcoFalke <*~=`'#}+{/-|&$^_@721217.xyz>
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2025 17:42:00 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 1/7] lint: Do not allow locale dependent shell scripts

Bash is discouraged, and there was never a need to write locale
dependent Bash.

So remove the option and clarify that the LC_ALL settings enable UTF-8
mode in Python.
---
 test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py | 14 ++++----------
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py b/test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py
index 309c426374..59515e7888 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py
@@ -1,22 +1,19 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2018-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
 """
-Make sure all shell scripts are:
-a.) explicitly opt out of locale dependence using
-    "export LC_ALL=C" or "export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8", or
-b.) explicitly opt in to locale dependence using the annotation below.
+Make sure all shell scripts explicitly opt out of locale dependence using
+"export LC_ALL=C" or "export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8", which also enables UTF-8 mode in
+Python. See: https://docs.python.org/3/library/os.html#python-utf-8-mode
 """
 
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import re
 
-OPT_IN_LINE = '# This script is intentionally locale dependent by not setting \"export LC_ALL=C\"'
-
 OPT_OUT_LINES = [
     'export LC_ALL=C',
     'export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8',
@@ -47,9 +44,6 @@ def main():
         with open(file_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as file_obj:
             contents = file_obj.read()
 
-        if OPT_IN_LINE in contents:
-            continue
-
         non_comment_pattern = re.compile(r'^\s*((?!#).+)$', re.MULTILINE)
         non_comment_lines = re.findall(non_comment_pattern, contents)
         if not non_comment_lines:

From faf39d8539c9d563f68071054bbd533157f586ef Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: MarcoFalke <*~=`'#}+{/-|&$^_@721217.xyz>
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2025 17:29:45 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 2/7] test: Clarify that Python UTF-8 mode is the default today
 for most systems

It will likely be the default for all systems, starting with Python
3.15, according to https://peps.python.org/pep-0686/#abstract.

It is hard to find a system other than Windows that has it not enabled
today. Nonetheless, Bitcoin Core requires UTF-8 in scripts and normally
enforces it via LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 or PYTHONUTF8=1.
---
 test/README.md | 2 ++
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)

diff --git a/test/README.md b/test/README.md
index 1291ee7bc1..162815d648 100644
--- a/test/README.md
+++ b/test/README.md
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ venv/bin/pip3 install ./pycapnp -C force-bundled-libcapnp=True
 venv/bin/python3 build/test/functional/interface_ipc.py
 ```
 
+The functional tests assume Python UTF-8 Mode, which is the default on most
+systems.
 On Windows the `PYTHONUTF8` environment variable must be set to 1:
 
 ```cmd

From fa7d72bd1be9a45e8c09525aee68caad1e57963e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: MarcoFalke <*~=`'#}+{/-|&$^_@721217.xyz>
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2025 17:51:48 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 3/7] lint: Drop check to enforce encoding to be specified in
 Python scripts

The check was incomplete and brittle. A better check would be to enable
`PYTHONWARNDEFAULTENCODING=1`
https://docs.python.org/3/whatsnew/3.10.html#optional-encodingwarning-and-encoding-locale-option

However, it is unclear what the goal of adding explicit encodings
everywhere is, given that:

* Most modern systems already have UTF-8 enabled by default, except for
  Windows.
* Python 3.15 will likely enable it globally by default, according to
  https://peps.python.org/pep-0686/#abstract
* Adding the explicit encodings will bloat all code for no benefit.

So remove the lint check and drop all redundant encoding= kwargs.

All encoding= that are set for a reason, are kept.
---
 test/lint/lint-python-utf8-encoding.py | 73 --------------------------
 1 file changed, 73 deletions(-)
 delete mode 100755 test/lint/lint-python-utf8-encoding.py

diff --git a/test/lint/lint-python-utf8-encoding.py b/test/lint/lint-python-utf8-encoding.py
deleted file mode 100755
index 8c9266470f..0000000000
--- a/test/lint/lint-python-utf8-encoding.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,73 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python3
-#
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
-# Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
-# file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
-#
-# Make sure we explicitly open all text files using UTF-8 (or ASCII) encoding to
-# avoid potential issues on the BSDs where the locale is not always set.
-
-import sys
-import re
-
-from subprocess import check_output, CalledProcessError
-
-EXCLUDED_DIRS = ["src/crc32c/", "src/secp256k1/"]
-
-
-def get_exclude_args():
-    return [":(exclude)" + dir for dir in EXCLUDED_DIRS]
-
-
-def check_fileopens():
-    fileopens = list()
-
-    try:
-        fileopens = check_output(["git", "grep", r" open(", "--", "*.py"] + get_exclude_args(), text=True, encoding="utf8").splitlines()
-    except CalledProcessError as e:
-        if e.returncode > 1:
-            raise e
-
-    filtered_fileopens = [fileopen for fileopen in fileopens if not re.search(r"encoding=.(ascii|utf8|utf-8).|open\([^,]*, (\*\*kwargs|['\"][^'\"]*b[^'\"]*['\"])", fileopen)]
-
-    return filtered_fileopens
-
-
-def check_checked_outputs():
-    checked_outputs = list()
-
-    try:
-        checked_outputs = check_output(["git", "grep", "check_output(", "--", "*.py"] + get_exclude_args(), text=True, encoding="utf8").splitlines()
-    except CalledProcessError as e:
-        if e.returncode > 1:
-            raise e
-
-    filtered_checked_outputs = [checked_output for checked_output in checked_outputs if re.search(r"text=True", checked_output) and not re.search(r"encoding=.(ascii|utf8|utf-8).", checked_output)]
-
-    return filtered_checked_outputs
-
-
-def main():
-    exit_code = 0
-
-    nonexplicit_utf8_fileopens = check_fileopens()
-    if nonexplicit_utf8_fileopens:
-        print("Python's open(...) seems to be used to open text files without explicitly specifying encoding='utf8':\n")
-        for fileopen in nonexplicit_utf8_fileopens:
-            print(fileopen)
-        exit_code = 1
-
-    nonexplicit_utf8_checked_outputs = check_checked_outputs()
-    if nonexplicit_utf8_checked_outputs:
-        if nonexplicit_utf8_fileopens:
-            print("\n")
-        print("Python's check_output(...) seems to be used to get program outputs without explicitly specifying encoding='utf8':\n")
-        for checked_output in nonexplicit_utf8_checked_outputs:
-            print(checked_output)
-        exit_code = 1
-
-    sys.exit(exit_code)
-
-
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    main()

From fae612424b3e70acd6011a4459518174463b3424 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: MarcoFalke <*~=`'#}+{/-|&$^_@721217.xyz>
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2025 10:50:32 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 4/7] contrib: Remove confusing and redundant encoding from IO

The encoding arg is confusing, because it is not applied consistently
for all IO.

Also, it is useless, as the majority of files are ASCII encoded, which
are fine to encode and decode with any mode.

Moreover, UTF-8 is already required for most scripts to work properly,
so setting the encoding twice is redundant.

So remove the encoding from most IO. It would be fine to remove from all
IO, however I kept it for two files:

* contrib/asmap/asmap-tool.py: This specifically looks for utf-8
  encoding errors, so it makes sense to sepecify the utf-8 encoding
  explicitly.
* test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py: Reading the debug log in
  text mode specifically counts the utf-8 characters (not bytes), so it
  makes sense to specify the utf-8 encoding explicitly.
---
 ci/test/02_run_container.py                   |  3 +-
 contrib/devtools/circular-dependencies.py     |  2 +-
 contrib/devtools/clang-format-diff.py         |  2 +-
 contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py          |  6 +--
 contrib/filter-lcov.py                        |  4 +-
 contrib/linearize/linearize-data.py           |  4 +-
 contrib/linearize/linearize-hashes.py         |  4 +-
 .../message-capture/message-capture-parser.py |  2 +-
 contrib/seeds/generate-seeds.py               |  8 ++--
 contrib/seeds/makeseeds.py                    |  2 +-
 contrib/verify-binaries/verify.py             |  6 +--
 contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py      | 12 +++---
 test/functional/combine_logs.py               |  2 +-
 test/functional/feature_asmap.py              |  2 +-
 test/functional/feature_config_args.py        | 42 +++++++++----------
 test/functional/feature_includeconf.py        | 14 +++----
 test/functional/feature_loadblock.py          |  4 +-
 test/functional/feature_notifications.py      |  4 +-
 test/functional/feature_startupnotify.py      |  2 +-
 test/functional/feature_taproot.py            |  2 +-
 .../functional/feature_versionbits_warning.py |  4 +-
 test/functional/mining_mainnet.py             |  2 +-
 test/functional/mocks/invalid_signer.py       |  2 +-
 test/functional/mocks/signer.py               |  4 +-
 test/functional/rpc_createmultisig.py         |  2 +-
 test/functional/rpc_decodescript.py           |  2 +-
 test/functional/rpc_getblockstats.py          |  4 +-
 test/functional/rpc_help.py                   |  4 +-
 test/functional/rpc_psbt.py                   |  2 +-
 test/functional/rpc_signer.py                 |  2 +-
 test/functional/rpc_users.py                  |  4 +-
 test/functional/rpc_whitelist.py              |  4 +-
 test/functional/test_framework/coverage.py    |  4 +-
 .../test_framework/crypto/ellswift.py         |  4 +-
 test/functional/test_framework/key.py         |  2 +-
 test/functional/test_framework/netutil.py     |  2 +-
 .../test_framework/test_framework.py          |  2 +-
 test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py   |  4 +-
 test/functional/test_framework/util.py        |  8 ++--
 test/functional/test_runner.py                |  8 ++--
 test/functional/tool_utils.py                 |  6 +--
 test/functional/tool_wallet.py                |  4 +-
 test/functional/wallet_backup.py              |  2 +-
 .../wallet_backwards_compatibility.py         |  4 +-
 test/functional/wallet_encryption.py          |  6 +--
 test/functional/wallet_multiwallet.py         |  2 +-
 test/functional/wallet_signer.py              |  6 +--
 test/fuzz/test_runner.py                      |  2 +-
 test/lint/lint-files.py                       |  2 +-
 test/lint/lint-include-guards.py              |  2 +-
 test/lint/lint-includes.py                    | 16 +++----
 test/lint/lint-locale-dependence.py           |  2 +-
 test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py                |  2 +-
 test/lint/lint-tests.py                       |  2 +-
 54 files changed, 127 insertions(+), 128 deletions(-)

diff --git a/ci/test/02_run_container.py b/ci/test/02_run_container.py
index 4d0bed2ad4..311fe92395 100755
--- a/ci/test/02_run_container.py
+++ b/ci/test/02_run_container.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ def main():
         ["bash", "-c", "grep export ./ci/test/00_setup_env*.sh"],
         stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
         text=True,
-        encoding="utf8",
     ).stdout.splitlines()
     settings = set(l.split("=")[0].split("export ")[1] for l in settings)
     # Add "hidden" settings, which are never exported, manually. Otherwise,
@@ -42,7 +41,7 @@ def main():
         u=os.environ["USER"],
         c=os.environ["CONTAINER_NAME"],
     )
-    with open(env_file, "w", encoding="utf8") as file:
+    with open(env_file, "w") as file:
         for k, v in os.environ.items():
             if k in settings:
                 file.write(f"{k}={v}\n")
diff --git a/contrib/devtools/circular-dependencies.py b/contrib/devtools/circular-dependencies.py
index b742a8cea6..09362c9f41 100755
--- a/contrib/devtools/circular-dependencies.py
+++ b/contrib/devtools/circular-dependencies.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ for arg in sys.argv[1:]:
 # TODO: implement support for multiple include directories
 for arg in sorted(files.keys()):
     module = files[arg]
-    with open(arg, 'r', encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(arg, 'r') as f:
         for line in f:
             match = RE.match(line)
             if match:
diff --git a/contrib/devtools/clang-format-diff.py b/contrib/devtools/clang-format-diff.py
index 30e804dbe2..f351563173 100755
--- a/contrib/devtools/clang-format-diff.py
+++ b/contrib/devtools/clang-format-diff.py
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ def main():
             sys.exit(p.returncode)
 
         if not args.i:
-            with open(filename, encoding="utf8") as f:
+            with open(filename) as f:
                 code = f.readlines()
             formatted_code = StringIO(stdout).readlines()
             diff = difflib.unified_diff(
diff --git a/contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py b/contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py
index 12d7276455..39b67ec492 100755
--- a/contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py
+++ b/contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ def file_has_without_c_style_copyright_for_holder(contents, holder_name):
 ################################################################################
 
 def read_file(filename):
-    return open(filename, 'r', encoding="utf8").read()
+    return open(filename, 'r').read()
 
 def gather_file_info(filename):
     info = {}
@@ -316,12 +316,12 @@ def get_most_recent_git_change_year(filename):
 ################################################################################
 
 def read_file_lines(filename):
-    with open(filename, 'r', encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(filename, 'r') as f:
         file_lines = f.readlines()
     return file_lines
 
 def write_file_lines(filename, file_lines):
-    with open(filename, 'w', encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(filename, 'w') as f:
         f.write(''.join(file_lines))
 
 ################################################################################
diff --git a/contrib/filter-lcov.py b/contrib/filter-lcov.py
index db780ad53b..373dfe3ee6 100755
--- a/contrib/filter-lcov.py
+++ b/contrib/filter-lcov.py
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ pattern = args.pattern
 outfile = args.outfile
 
 in_remove = False
-with open(tracefile, 'r', encoding="utf8") as f:
-    with open(outfile, 'w', encoding="utf8") as wf:
+with open(tracefile, 'r') as f:
+    with open(outfile, 'w') as wf:
         for line in f:
             for p in pattern:
                 if line.startswith("SF:") and p in line:
diff --git a/contrib/linearize/linearize-data.py b/contrib/linearize/linearize-data.py
index 74d9830705..1613f5cae2 100755
--- a/contrib/linearize/linearize-data.py
+++ b/contrib/linearize/linearize-data.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ def get_blk_dt(blk_hdr):
 # When getting the list of block hashes, undo any byte reversals.
 def get_block_hashes(settings):
     blkindex = []
-    with open(settings['hashlist'], "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(settings['hashlist'], "r") as f:
         for line in f:
             line = line.rstrip()
             if settings['rev_hash_bytes'] == 'true':
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
         print("Usage: linearize-data.py CONFIG-FILE")
         sys.exit(1)
 
-    with open(sys.argv[1], encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(sys.argv[1]) as f:
         for line in f:
             # skip comment lines
             m = re.search(r'^\s*#', line)
diff --git a/contrib/linearize/linearize-hashes.py b/contrib/linearize/linearize-hashes.py
index 695bafad34..ddd9a7ba23 100755
--- a/contrib/linearize/linearize-hashes.py
+++ b/contrib/linearize/linearize-hashes.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ def get_block_hashes(settings, max_blocks_per_call=10000):
 
 def get_rpc_cookie():
     # Open the cookie file
-    with open(os.path.join(os.path.expanduser(settings['datadir']), '.cookie'), 'r', encoding="ascii") as f:
+    with open(os.path.join(os.path.expanduser(settings['datadir']), '.cookie'), 'r') as f:
         combined = f.readline()
         combined_split = combined.split(":")
         settings['rpcuser'] = combined_split[0]
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
         print("Usage: linearize-hashes.py CONFIG-FILE")
         sys.exit(1)
 
-    with open(sys.argv[1], encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(sys.argv[1]) as f:
         for line in f:
             # skip comment lines
             m = re.search(r'^\s*#', line)
diff --git a/contrib/message-capture/message-capture-parser.py b/contrib/message-capture/message-capture-parser.py
index 0f409717d4..19ab8d02c7 100755
--- a/contrib/message-capture/message-capture-parser.py
+++ b/contrib/message-capture/message-capture-parser.py
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ def main():
 
     jsonrep = json.dumps(messages)
     if output:
-        with open(str(output), 'w+', encoding="utf8") as f_out:
+        with open(str(output), 'w+') as f_out:
             f_out.write(jsonrep)
     else:
         print(jsonrep)
diff --git a/contrib/seeds/generate-seeds.py b/contrib/seeds/generate-seeds.py
index a3ce012251..41261091c4 100755
--- a/contrib/seeds/generate-seeds.py
+++ b/contrib/seeds/generate-seeds.py
@@ -168,16 +168,16 @@ def main():
     g.write(' *\n')
     g.write(' * Each line contains a BIP155 serialized (networkID, addr, port) tuple.\n')
     g.write(' */\n')
-    with open(os.path.join(indir,'nodes_main.txt'), 'r', encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(os.path.join(indir,'nodes_main.txt'), 'r') as f:
         process_nodes(g, f, 'chainparams_seed_main')
     g.write('\n')
-    with open(os.path.join(indir,'nodes_signet.txt'), 'r', encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(os.path.join(indir,'nodes_signet.txt'), 'r') as f:
         process_nodes(g, f, 'chainparams_seed_signet')
     g.write('\n')
-    with open(os.path.join(indir,'nodes_test.txt'), 'r', encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(os.path.join(indir,'nodes_test.txt'), 'r') as f:
         process_nodes(g, f, 'chainparams_seed_test')
     g.write('\n')
-    with open(os.path.join(indir,'nodes_testnet4.txt'), 'r', encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(os.path.join(indir,'nodes_testnet4.txt'), 'r') as f:
         process_nodes(g, f, 'chainparams_seed_testnet4')
     g.write('#endif // BITCOIN_CHAINPARAMSSEEDS_H\n')
 
diff --git a/contrib/seeds/makeseeds.py b/contrib/seeds/makeseeds.py
index 0e5826ef87..1cb9603998 100755
--- a/contrib/seeds/makeseeds.py
+++ b/contrib/seeds/makeseeds.py
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ def main():
     print('Done.', file=sys.stderr)
 
     print('Loading and parsing DNS seeds…', end='', file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
-    with open(args.seeds, 'r', encoding='utf8') as f:
+    with open(args.seeds, 'r') as f:
         lines = f.readlines()
     ips = [parseline(line) for line in lines]
     random.shuffle(ips)
diff --git a/contrib/verify-binaries/verify.py b/contrib/verify-binaries/verify.py
index 6c07b36c9d..6f5a933fff 100755
--- a/contrib/verify-binaries/verify.py
+++ b/contrib/verify-binaries/verify.py
@@ -246,8 +246,8 @@ def files_are_equal(filename1, filename2):
     eq = contents1 == contents2
 
     if not eq:
-        with open(filename1, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f1, \
-                open(filename2, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f2:
+        with open(filename1, 'r') as f1, \
+                open(filename2, 'r') as f2:
             f1lines = f1.readlines()
             f2lines = f2.readlines()
 
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ def verify_shasums_signature(
 def parse_sums_file(sums_file_path: str, filename_filter: list[str]) -> list[list[str]]:
     # extract hashes/filenames of binaries to verify from hash file;
     # each line has the following format: "<hash> <binary_filename>"
-    with open(sums_file_path, 'r', encoding='utf8') as hash_file:
+    with open(sums_file_path, 'r') as hash_file:
         return [line.split()[:2] for line in hash_file if len(filename_filter) == 0 or any(f in line for f in filename_filter)]
 
 
diff --git a/contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py b/contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py
index a1fe78a643..808f26ed18 100755
--- a/contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py
+++ b/contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py
@@ -82,17 +82,17 @@ def main():
     # get directory of this program and read data files
     dirname = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
     print("Using verify-commits data from " + dirname)
-    with open(dirname + "/trusted-git-root", "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(dirname + "/trusted-git-root", "r") as f:
         verified_root = f.read().splitlines()[0]
-    with open(dirname + "/trusted-sha512-root-commit", "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(dirname + "/trusted-sha512-root-commit", "r") as f:
         verified_sha512_root = f.read().splitlines()[0]
-    with open(dirname + "/allow-revsig-commits", "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(dirname + "/allow-revsig-commits", "r") as f:
         revsig_allowed = f.read().splitlines()
-    with open(dirname + "/allow-unclean-merge-commits", "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(dirname + "/allow-unclean-merge-commits", "r") as f:
         unclean_merge_allowed = f.read().splitlines()
-    with open(dirname + "/allow-incorrect-sha512-commits", "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(dirname + "/allow-incorrect-sha512-commits", "r") as f:
         incorrect_sha512_allowed = f.read().splitlines()
-    with open(dirname + "/trusted-keys", "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(dirname + "/trusted-keys", "r") as f:
         trusted_keys = f.read().splitlines()
 
     # Set commit and variables
diff --git a/test/functional/combine_logs.py b/test/functional/combine_logs.py
index 998cb20831..c4e4673228 100755
--- a/test/functional/combine_logs.py
+++ b/test/functional/combine_logs.py
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ def get_log_events(source, logfile):
     Log events may be split over multiple lines. We use the timestamp
     regex match as the marker for a new log event."""
     try:
-        with open(logfile, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as infile:
+        with open(logfile, 'r') as infile:
             event = ''
             timestamp = ''
             for line in infile:
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_asmap.py b/test/functional/feature_asmap.py
index eef599f145..139725bbba 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_asmap.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_asmap.py
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ class AsmapTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.log.info('Test bitcoind -asmap with empty map file')
         self.stop_node(0)
         empty_asmap = os.path.join(self.datadir, "ip_asn.map")
-        with open(empty_asmap, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        with open(empty_asmap, "w") as f:
             f.write("")
         msg = f"Error: Could not parse asmap file \"{empty_asmap}\""
         self.node.assert_start_raises_init_error(extra_args=[f'-asmap={empty_asmap}'], expected_msg=msg)
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_config_args.py b/test/functional/feature_config_args.py
index 441c21f03a..14a5115ae7 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_config_args.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_config_args.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class ConfArgsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         os.rename(conf_path.with_suffix('.confbkp'), conf_path)
 
         self.log.debug('Verifying includeconf directive pointing to directory is caught')
-        with open(conf_path, 'a', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(conf_path, 'a') as conf:
             conf.write(f'includeconf={self.nodes[0].datadir_path}\n')
         self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(
             extra_args=['-regtest'],
@@ -68,12 +68,12 @@ class ConfArgsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.log.info('Disabling configuration via -noconf')
 
         conf_path = self.nodes[0].datadir_path / 'bitcoin.conf'
-        with open(conf_path, encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(conf_path) as conf:
             settings = [f'-{line.rstrip()}' for line in conf if len(line) > 1 and line[0] != '[']
         os.rename(conf_path, conf_path.with_suffix('.confbkp'))
 
         self.log.debug('Verifying garbage in config can be detected')
-        with open(conf_path, 'a', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(conf_path, 'a') as conf:
             conf.write('garbage\n')
         self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(
             extra_args=['-regtest'],
@@ -107,9 +107,9 @@ class ConfArgsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
             expected_msg=conf_in_config_file_err,
         )
         inc_conf_file_path = self.nodes[0].datadir_path / 'include.conf'
-        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / 'bitcoin.conf', 'a', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / 'bitcoin.conf', 'a') as conf:
             conf.write(f'includeconf={inc_conf_file_path}\n')
-        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('conf=some.conf\n')
         self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(
             expected_msg=conf_in_config_file_err,
@@ -119,65 +119,65 @@ class ConfArgsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
             expected_msg='Error: Error parsing command line arguments: Invalid parameter -dash_cli=1',
             extra_args=['-dash_cli=1'],
         )
-        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('dash_conf=1\n')
 
         with self.nodes[0].assert_debug_log(expected_msgs=['Ignoring unknown configuration value dash_conf']):
             self.start_node(0)
         self.stop_node(0)
 
-        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('reindex=1\n')
 
         with self.nodes[0].assert_debug_log(expected_msgs=['Warning: reindex=1 is set in the configuration file, which will significantly slow down startup. Consider removing or commenting out this option for better performance, unless there is currently a condition which makes rebuilding the indexes necessary']):
             self.start_node(0)
         self.stop_node(0)
 
-        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('-dash=1\n')
         self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(expected_msg='Error: Error reading configuration file: parse error on line 1: -dash=1, options in configuration file must be specified without leading -')
 
         if self.is_wallet_compiled():
-            with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf8') as conf:
+            with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w') as conf:
                 conf.write("wallet=foo\n")
             self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(expected_msg=f'Error: Config setting for -wallet only applied on {self.chain} network when in [{self.chain}] section.')
 
         main_conf_file_path = self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "bitcoin_main.conf"
         util.write_config(main_conf_file_path, n=0, chain='', extra_config=f'includeconf={inc_conf_file_path}\n')
-        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('acceptnonstdtxn=1\n')
         self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(extra_args=[f"-conf={main_conf_file_path}", "-allowignoredconf"], expected_msg='Error: acceptnonstdtxn is not currently supported for main chain')
 
-        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('nono\n')
         self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(expected_msg='Error: Error reading configuration file: parse error on line 1: nono, if you intended to specify a negated option, use nono=1 instead')
 
-        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('server=1\nrpcuser=someuser\nrpcpassword=some#pass')
         self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(expected_msg='Error: Error reading configuration file: parse error on line 3, using # in rpcpassword can be ambiguous and should be avoided')
 
-        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('server=1\nrpcuser=someuser\nmain.rpcpassword=some#pass')
         self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(expected_msg='Error: Error reading configuration file: parse error on line 3, using # in rpcpassword can be ambiguous and should be avoided')
 
-        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('server=1\nrpcuser=someuser\n[main]\nrpcpassword=some#pass')
         self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(expected_msg='Error: Error reading configuration file: parse error on line 4, using # in rpcpassword can be ambiguous and should be avoided')
 
         inc_conf_file2_path = self.nodes[0].datadir_path / 'include2.conf'
-        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / 'bitcoin.conf', 'a', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / 'bitcoin.conf', 'a') as conf:
             conf.write(f'includeconf={inc_conf_file2_path}\n')
 
-        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('testnot.datadir=1\n')
-        with open(inc_conf_file2_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file2_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('[testnet]\n')
         self.restart_node(0)
         self.nodes[0].stop_node(expected_stderr=f'Warning: {inc_conf_file_path}:1 Section [testnot] is not recognized.{os.linesep}{inc_conf_file2_path}:1 Section [testnet] is not recognized.')
 
-        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('')  # clear
-        with open(inc_conf_file2_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+        with open(inc_conf_file2_path, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write('')  # clear
 
     def test_config_file_log(self):
@@ -522,9 +522,9 @@ class ConfArgsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         conf_file = default_data_dir / "bitcoin.conf"
 
         # datadir needs to be set before [chain] section
-        with open(conf_file, encoding='utf8') as f:
+        with open(conf_file) as f:
             conf_file_contents = f.read()
-        with open(conf_file, 'w', encoding='utf8') as f:
+        with open(conf_file, 'w') as f:
             f.write(f"datadir={new_data_dir}\n")
             f.write(conf_file_contents)
 
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_includeconf.py b/test/functional/feature_includeconf.py
index ee484e7ec5..a416b2293d 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_includeconf.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_includeconf.py
@@ -24,12 +24,12 @@ class IncludeConfTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
     def run_test(self):
         # Create additional config files
         # - tmpdir/node0/relative.conf
-        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "relative.conf", "w", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "relative.conf", "w") as f:
             f.write("uacomment=relative\n")
         # - tmpdir/node0/relative2.conf
-        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "relative2.conf", "w", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "relative2.conf", "w") as f:
             f.write("uacomment=relative2\n")
-        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf", "a", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf", "a") as f:
             f.write("uacomment=main\nincludeconf=relative.conf\n")
         self.restart_node(0)
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class IncludeConfTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         )
 
         self.log.info("-includeconf cannot be used recursively. subversion should end with 'main; relative)/'")
-        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "relative.conf", "a", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "relative.conf", "a") as f:
             f.write("includeconf=relative2.conf\n")
         self.start_node(0)
 
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class IncludeConfTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.log.info("-includeconf cannot contain invalid arg")
 
         # Commented out as long as we ignore invalid arguments in configuration files
-        #with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "relative.conf", "w", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        #with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "relative.conf", "w") as f:
         #    f.write("foo=bar\n")
         #self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(expected_msg="Error: Error reading configuration file: Invalid configuration value foo")
 
@@ -70,11 +70,11 @@ class IncludeConfTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(expected_msg="Error: Error reading configuration file: Failed to include configuration file relative.conf")
 
         self.log.info("multiple -includeconf args can be used from the base config file. subversion should end with 'main; relative; relative2)/'")
-        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "relative.conf", "w", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "relative.conf", "w") as f:
             # Restore initial file contents
             f.write("uacomment=relative\n")
 
-        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf", "a", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf", "a") as f:
             f.write("includeconf=relative2.conf\n")
 
         self.start_node(0)
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_loadblock.py b/test/functional/feature_loadblock.py
index 0e6ec14c77..2bf700d16c 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_loadblock.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_loadblock.py
@@ -41,10 +41,10 @@ class LoadblockTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         hash_list = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(dir=data_dir,
                                                 mode='w',
                                                 delete=False,
-                                                encoding="utf-8")
+        )
 
         self.log.info("Create linearization config file")
-        with open(cfg_file, "a", encoding="utf-8") as cfg:
+        with open(cfg_file, "a") as cfg:
             cfg.write(f"datadir={data_dir}\n")
             cfg.write(f"rpcuser={node_url.username}\n")
             cfg.write(f"rpcpassword={node_url.password}\n")
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_notifications.py b/test/functional/feature_notifications.py
index 519d80b9ab..12bc6b1804 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_notifications.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_notifications.py
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ class NotificationsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.wait_until(lambda: os.path.isfile(self.shutdownnotify_file), timeout=10)
 
     def large_work_invalid_chain_warning_in_alert_file(self):
-        with open(self.alertnotify_file, 'r', encoding='utf8') as f:
+        with open(self.alertnotify_file, 'r') as f:
             alert_text = f.read()
         return LARGE_WORK_INVALID_CHAIN_WARNING in alert_text
 
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ class NotificationsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
             fname = os.path.join(self.walletnotify_dir, notify_outputname(self.wallet, tx_id))
             # Wait for the cached writes to hit storage
             self.wait_until(lambda: os.path.getsize(fname) > 0, timeout=10)
-            with open(fname, 'rt', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+            with open(fname, 'rt') as f:
                 text = f.read()
                 # Universal newline ensures '\n' on 'nt'
                 assert_equal(text[-1], '\n')
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_startupnotify.py b/test/functional/feature_startupnotify.py
index 1e07103725..d9c2f864c7 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_startupnotify.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_startupnotify.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class StartupNotifyTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.log.info("Test -startupnotify is executed once")
 
         def get_count():
-            with open(tmpdir_file, "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+            with open(tmpdir_file, "r") as f:
                 file_content = f.read()
                 return file_content.count(FILE_NAME)
 
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_taproot.py b/test/functional/feature_taproot.py
index 24cb26a344..d3c1ac0379 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_taproot.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_taproot.py
@@ -1396,7 +1396,7 @@ def dump_json_test(tx, input_utxos, idx, success, failure):
     sha1 = hashlib.sha1(dump.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()
     dirname = os.environ.get("TEST_DUMP_DIR", ".") + ("/%s" % sha1[0])
     os.makedirs(dirname, exist_ok=True)
-    with open(dirname + ("/%s" % sha1), 'w', encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(dirname + ("/%s" % sha1), 'w') as f:
         f.write(dump)
 
 # Data type to keep track of UTXOs, where they were created, and how to spend them.
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_versionbits_warning.py b/test/functional/feature_versionbits_warning.py
index 96ec7c570f..bc4b67915b 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_versionbits_warning.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_versionbits_warning.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class VersionBitsWarningTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
     def setup_network(self):
         self.alert_filename = os.path.join(self.options.tmpdir, "alert.txt")
         # Open and close to create zero-length file
-        with open(self.alert_filename, 'w', encoding='utf8'):
+        with open(self.alert_filename, 'w'):
             pass
         self.extra_args = [[f"-alertnotify=echo %s >> \"{self.alert_filename}\""]]
         self.setup_nodes()
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class VersionBitsWarningTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
 
     def versionbits_in_alert_file(self):
         """Test that the versionbits warning has been written to the alert file."""
-        with open(self.alert_filename, 'r', encoding='utf8') as f:
+        with open(self.alert_filename, 'r') as f:
             alert_text = f.read()
         return VB_PATTERN.search(alert_text) is not None
 
diff --git a/test/functional/mining_mainnet.py b/test/functional/mining_mainnet.py
index 672191006d..122ea48173 100755
--- a/test/functional/mining_mainnet.py
+++ b/test/functional/mining_mainnet.py
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class MiningMainnetTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), self.options.datafile)
         prev_hash = node.getbestblockhash()
         blocks = None
-        with open(path, encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        with open(path) as f:
             blocks = json.load(f)
             n_blocks = len(blocks['timestamps'])
             assert_equal(n_blocks, 2016)
diff --git a/test/functional/mocks/invalid_signer.py b/test/functional/mocks/invalid_signer.py
index 7bfa9051ac..b9a5c2a108 100755
--- a/test/functional/mocks/invalid_signer.py
+++ b/test/functional/mocks/invalid_signer.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import json
 def perform_pre_checks():
     mock_result_path = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "mock_result")
     if os.path.isfile(mock_result_path):
-        with open(mock_result_path, "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(mock_result_path, "r") as f:
             mock_result = f.read()
         if mock_result[0]:
             sys.stdout.write(mock_result[2:])
diff --git a/test/functional/mocks/signer.py b/test/functional/mocks/signer.py
index 23d163aac3..da5d9d9f75 100755
--- a/test/functional/mocks/signer.py
+++ b/test/functional/mocks/signer.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import json
 def perform_pre_checks():
     mock_result_path = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "mock_result")
     if os.path.isfile(mock_result_path):
-        with open(mock_result_path, "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(mock_result_path, "r") as f:
             mock_result = f.read()
         if mock_result[0]:
             sys.stdout.write(mock_result[2:])
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ def signtx(args):
     if args.fingerprint != "00000001":
         return sys.stdout.write(json.dumps({"error": "Unexpected fingerprint", "fingerprint": args.fingerprint}))
 
-    with open(os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "mock_psbt"), "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "mock_psbt"), "r") as f:
         mock_psbt = f.read()
 
     if args.fingerprint == "00000001" :
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_createmultisig.py b/test/functional/rpc_createmultisig.py
index 1675aa0c52..5ae6c39e25 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_createmultisig.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_createmultisig.py
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ class RpcCreateMultiSigTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
 
     def test_sortedmulti_descriptors_bip67(self):
         self.log.info('Testing sortedmulti descriptors with BIP 67 test vectors')
-        with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), 'data/rpc_bip67.json'), encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), 'data/rpc_bip67.json')) as f:
             vectors = json.load(f)
 
         for t in vectors:
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_decodescript.py b/test/functional/rpc_decodescript.py
index 4f127fa8b7..40a53ce24d 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_decodescript.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_decodescript.py
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ class DecodeScriptTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         assert_equal('OP_RETURN 3011020701010101010101020601010101010101', rpc_result['vin'][0]['scriptSig']['asm'])
 
     def decodescript_datadriven_tests(self):
-        with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), 'data/rpc_decodescript.json'), encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), 'data/rpc_decodescript.json')) as f:
             dd_tests = json.load(f)
 
         for script, result in dd_tests:
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_getblockstats.py b/test/functional/rpc_getblockstats.py
index 7def4f8fa5..fee23d20b9 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_getblockstats.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_getblockstats.py
@@ -78,11 +78,11 @@ class GetblockstatsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
             'mocktime': int(mocktime),
             'stats': self.expected_stats,
         }
-        with open(filename, 'w', encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(filename, 'w') as f:
             json.dump(to_dump, f, sort_keys=True, indent=2)
 
     def load_test_data(self, filename):
-        with open(filename, 'r', encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(filename, 'r') as f:
             d = json.load(f)
             blocks = d['blocks']
             mocktime = d['mocktime']
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_help.py b/test/functional/rpc_help.py
index 74d34ddca1..92ee5d1596 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_help.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_help.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def process_mapping(fname):
     cmds = []
     string_params = []
     in_rpcs = False
-    with open(fname, "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+    with open(fname, "r") as f:
         for line in f:
             line = line.rstrip()
             if not in_rpcs:
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ class HelpRpcTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         os.mkdir(dump_dir)
         calls = [line.split(' ', 1)[0] for line in self.nodes[0].help().splitlines() if line and not line.startswith('==')]
         for call in calls:
-            with open(os.path.join(dump_dir, call), 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+            with open(os.path.join(dump_dir, call), 'w') as f:
                 # Make sure the node can generate the help at runtime without crashing
                 f.write(self.nodes[0].help(call))
 
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_psbt.py b/test/functional/rpc_psbt.py
index 3943abcec4..1cd2a1da77 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_psbt.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_psbt.py
@@ -799,7 +799,7 @@ class PSBTTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         assert_equal(unknown_psbt, unknown_out)
 
         # Open the data file
-        with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), 'data/rpc_psbt.json'), encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), 'data/rpc_psbt.json')) as f:
             d = json.load(f)
             invalids = d['invalid']
             invalid_with_msgs = d["invalid_with_msg"]
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_signer.py b/test/functional/rpc_signer.py
index 715520b150..0cfc232442 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_signer.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_signer.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class RPCSignerTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.skip_if_no_external_signer()
 
     def set_mock_result(self, node, res):
-        with open(os.path.join(node.cwd, "mock_result"), "w", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(os.path.join(node.cwd, "mock_result"), "w") as f:
             f.write(res)
 
     def clear_mock_result(self, node):
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_users.py b/test/functional/rpc_users.py
index 9e475bbe85..a12adc80e3 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_users.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_users.py
@@ -61,11 +61,11 @@ class HTTPBasicsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         rpcauth3 = lines[1]
         self.password = lines[3]
 
-        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf", "a", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf", "a") as f:
             f.write(rpcauth + "\n")
             f.write(rpcauth2 + "\n")
             f.write(rpcauth3 + "\n")
-        with open(self.nodes[1].datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf", "a", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(self.nodes[1].datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf", "a") as f:
             f.write("rpcuser={}\n".format(self.rpcuser))
             f.write("rpcpassword={}\n".format(self.rpcpassword))
         self.restart_node(0)
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_whitelist.py b/test/functional/rpc_whitelist.py
index b103289fab..5acae0cbcb 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_whitelist.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_whitelist.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class RPCWhitelistTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         ]
         # These commands shouldn't be allowed for any user to test failures
         self.never_allowed = ["getnetworkinfo"]
-        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf", "a", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf", "a") as f:
             f.write("\nrpcwhitelistdefault=0\n")
             for user in self.users:
                 f.write("rpcauth=" + user[0] + ":" + user[1] + "\n")
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ class RPCWhitelistTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
 
         # Replace file configurations
         self.nodes[0].replace_in_config([("rpcwhitelistdefault=0", "rpcwhitelistdefault=1")])
-        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf", 'a', encoding='utf8') as f:
+        with open(self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf", 'a') as f:
             f.write("rpcwhitelist=__cookie__:getblockcount,getblockchaininfo,getmempoolinfo,stop\n")
         self.restart_node(0)
 
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/coverage.py b/test/functional/test_framework/coverage.py
index 912a945d95..29e918d426 100644
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/coverage.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/coverage.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class AuthServiceProxyWrapper():
         rpc_method = self.auth_service_proxy_instance._service_name
 
         if self.coverage_logfile:
-            with open(self.coverage_logfile, 'a+', encoding='utf8') as f:
+            with open(self.coverage_logfile, 'a+') as f:
                 f.write("%s\n" % rpc_method)
 
     def __truediv__(self, relative_uri):
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ def write_all_rpc_commands(dirname: str, node: AuthServiceProxy) -> bool:
         if line and not line.startswith('='):
             commands.add("%s\n" % line.split()[0])
 
-    with open(filename, 'w', encoding='utf8') as f:
+    with open(filename, 'w') as f:
         f.writelines(list(commands))
 
     return True
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/crypto/ellswift.py b/test/functional/test_framework/crypto/ellswift.py
index 429b7b9f4d..4880ef5b3b 100644
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/crypto/ellswift.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/crypto/ellswift.py
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ class TestFrameworkEllSwift(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_elligator_encode_testvectors(self):
         """Implement the BIP324 test vectors for ellswift encoding (read from xswiftec_inv_test_vectors.csv)."""
         vectors_file = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), 'xswiftec_inv_test_vectors.csv')
-        with open(vectors_file, newline='', encoding='utf8') as csvfile:
+        with open(vectors_file, newline='') as csvfile:
             reader = csv.DictReader(csvfile)
             for row in reader:
                 u = FE.from_bytes(bytes.fromhex(row['u']))
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ class TestFrameworkEllSwift(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_elligator_decode_testvectors(self):
         """Implement the BIP324 test vectors for ellswift decoding (read from ellswift_decode_test_vectors.csv)."""
         vectors_file = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), 'ellswift_decode_test_vectors.csv')
-        with open(vectors_file, newline='', encoding='utf8') as csvfile:
+        with open(vectors_file, newline='') as csvfile:
             reader = csv.DictReader(csvfile)
             for row in reader:
                 encoding = bytes.fromhex(row['ellswift'])
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/key.py b/test/functional/test_framework/key.py
index 558dcbf23e..6caafe8bcd 100644
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/key.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/key.py
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ class TestFrameworkKey(unittest.TestCase):
         """Implement the BIP340 test vectors (read from bip340_test_vectors.csv)."""
         num_tests = 0
         vectors_file = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), 'bip340_test_vectors.csv')
-        with open(vectors_file, newline='', encoding='utf8') as csvfile:
+        with open(vectors_file, newline='') as csvfile:
             reader = csv.reader(csvfile)
             next(reader)
             for row in reader:
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/netutil.py b/test/functional/test_framework/netutil.py
index f79a8c361a..6cb34eb815 100644
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/netutil.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/netutil.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ def netstat(typ='tcp'):
     To get pid of all network process running on system, you must run this script
     as superuser
     '''
-    with open('/proc/net/'+typ,'r',encoding='utf8') as f:
+    with open('/proc/net/'+typ,'r') as f:
         content = f.readlines()
         content.pop(0)
     result = []
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py b/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py
index 503120213a..a74ab5aed9 100755
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py
@@ -751,7 +751,7 @@ class BitcoinTestFramework(metaclass=BitcoinTestMetaClass):
         self.log = logging.getLogger('TestFramework')
         self.log.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
         # Create file handler to log all messages
-        fh = logging.FileHandler(self.options.tmpdir + '/test_framework.log', encoding='utf-8')
+        fh = logging.FileHandler(self.options.tmpdir + '/test_framework.log')
         fh.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
         # Create console handler to log messages to stderr. By default this logs only error messages, but can be configured with --loglevel.
         ch = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout)
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
index 4186cec5b7..060a932d1c 100755
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
@@ -506,13 +506,13 @@ class TestNode():
         The substitutions are passed as a list of search-replace-tuples, e.g.
             [("old", "new"), ("foo", "bar"), ...]
         """
-        with open(self.bitcoinconf, 'r', encoding='utf8') as conf:
+        with open(self.bitcoinconf, 'r') as conf:
             conf_data = conf.read()
         for replacement in replacements:
             assert_equal(len(replacement), 2)
             old, new = replacement[0], replacement[1]
             conf_data = conf_data.replace(old, new)
-        with open(self.bitcoinconf, 'w', encoding='utf8') as conf:
+        with open(self.bitcoinconf, 'w') as conf:
             conf.write(conf_data)
 
     @property
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/util.py b/test/functional/test_framework/util.py
index bbad6ea771..f08b36d5e9 100644
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/util.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/util.py
@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@ def write_config(config_path, *, n, chain, extra_config="", disable_autoconnect=
     else:
         chain_name_conf_arg = chain
         chain_name_conf_section = chain
-    with open(config_path, 'w', encoding='utf8') as f:
+    with open(config_path, 'w') as f:
         if chain_name_conf_arg:
             f.write("{}=1\n".format(chain_name_conf_arg))
         if chain_name_conf_section:
@@ -594,7 +594,7 @@ def get_temp_default_datadir(temp_dir: pathlib.Path) -> tuple[dict, pathlib.Path
 
 
 def append_config(datadir, options):
-    with open(os.path.join(datadir, "bitcoin.conf"), 'a', encoding='utf8') as f:
+    with open(os.path.join(datadir, "bitcoin.conf"), 'a') as f:
         for option in options:
             f.write(option + "\n")
 
@@ -603,7 +603,7 @@ def get_auth_cookie(datadir, chain):
     user = None
     password = None
     if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(datadir, "bitcoin.conf")):
-        with open(os.path.join(datadir, "bitcoin.conf"), 'r', encoding='utf8') as f:
+        with open(os.path.join(datadir, "bitcoin.conf"), 'r') as f:
             for line in f:
                 if line.startswith("rpcuser="):
                     assert user is None  # Ensure that there is only one rpcuser line
@@ -612,7 +612,7 @@ def get_auth_cookie(datadir, chain):
                     assert password is None  # Ensure that there is only one rpcpassword line
                     password = line.split("=")[1].strip("\n")
     try:
-        with open(os.path.join(datadir, chain, ".cookie"), 'r', encoding="ascii") as f:
+        with open(os.path.join(datadir, chain, ".cookie"), 'r') as f:
             userpass = f.read()
             split_userpass = userpass.split(':')
             user = split_userpass[0]
diff --git a/test/functional/test_runner.py b/test/functional/test_runner.py
index 8c26ab952a..d63dbadefd 100755
--- a/test/functional/test_runner.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_runner.py
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ def main():
     # Read config generated by configure.
     config = configparser.ConfigParser()
     configfile = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)) + "/../config.ini"
-    config.read_file(open(configfile, encoding="utf8"))
+    config.read_file(open(configfile))
 
     passon_args.append("--configfile=%s" % configfile)
 
@@ -699,7 +699,7 @@ def print_results(test_results, max_len_name, runtime):
 
 
 def write_results(test_results, filepath, total_runtime):
-    with open(filepath, mode="w", encoding="utf8") as results_file:
+    with open(filepath, mode="w") as results_file:
         results_writer = csv.writer(results_file)
         results_writer.writerow(['test', 'status', 'duration(seconds)'])
         all_passed = True
@@ -911,7 +911,7 @@ class RPCCoverage():
         if not os.path.isfile(coverage_ref_filename):
             raise RuntimeError("No coverage reference found")
 
-        with open(coverage_ref_filename, 'r', encoding="utf8") as coverage_ref_file:
+        with open(coverage_ref_filename, 'r') as coverage_ref_file:
             all_cmds.update([line.strip() for line in coverage_ref_file.readlines()])
 
         for root, _, files in os.walk(self.dir):
@@ -920,7 +920,7 @@ class RPCCoverage():
                     coverage_filenames.add(os.path.join(root, filename))
 
         for filename in coverage_filenames:
-            with open(filename, 'r', encoding="utf8") as coverage_file:
+            with open(filename, 'r') as coverage_file:
                 covered_cmds.update([line.strip() for line in coverage_file.readlines()])
 
         return all_cmds - covered_cmds
diff --git a/test/functional/tool_utils.py b/test/functional/tool_utils.py
index 6dfe27c346..525285deb0 100755
--- a/test/functional/tool_utils.py
+++ b/test/functional/tool_utils.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class ToolUtils(BitcoinTestFramework):
     def run_test(self):
         self.testcase_dir = Path(self.config["environment"]["SRCDIR"]) / "test" / "functional" / "data" / "util"
         self.bins = self.get_binaries()
-        with open(self.testcase_dir / "bitcoin-util-test.json", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(self.testcase_dir / "bitcoin-util-test.json") as f:
             input_data = json.loads(f.read())
 
         for i, test_obj in enumerate(input_data):
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class ToolUtils(BitcoinTestFramework):
         # Read the input data (if there is any)
         inputData = None
         if "input" in testObj:
-            with open(self.testcase_dir / testObj["input"], encoding="utf8") as f:
+            with open(self.testcase_dir / testObj["input"]) as f:
                 inputData = f.read()
 
         # Read the expected output data (if there is any)
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class ToolUtils(BitcoinTestFramework):
         if "output_cmp" in testObj:
             outputFn = testObj['output_cmp']
             outputType = os.path.splitext(outputFn)[1][1:]  # output type from file extension (determines how to compare)
-            with open(self.testcase_dir / outputFn, encoding="utf8") as f:
+            with open(self.testcase_dir / outputFn) as f:
                 outputData = f.read()
             if not outputData:
                 raise Exception(f"Output data missing for {outputFn}")
diff --git a/test/functional/tool_wallet.py b/test/functional/tool_wallet.py
index bbf84d7a01..d5bc4ad67b 100755
--- a/test/functional/tool_wallet.py
+++ b/test/functional/tool_wallet.py
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class ToolWalletTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
 
     def read_dump(self, filename):
         dump = OrderedDict()
-        with open(filename, "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(filename, "r") as f:
             for row in f:
                 row = row.strip()
                 key, value = row.split(',')
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ class ToolWalletTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
     def write_dump(self, dump, filename, magic=None, skip_checksum=False):
         if magic is None:
             magic = "BITCOIN_CORE_WALLET_DUMP"
-        with open(filename, "w", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(filename, "w") as f:
             row = ",".join([magic, dump[magic]]) + "\n"
             f.write(row)
             for k, v in dump.items():
diff --git a/test/functional/wallet_backup.py b/test/functional/wallet_backup.py
index 6f3637a0dd..4d08ace424 100755
--- a/test/functional/wallet_backup.py
+++ b/test/functional/wallet_backup.py
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ class WalletBackupTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
     def restore_invalid_wallet(self):
         node = self.nodes[3]
         invalid_wallet_file = self.nodes[0].datadir_path / 'invalid_wallet_file.bak'
-        open(invalid_wallet_file, 'a', encoding="utf8").write('invald wallet')
+        open(invalid_wallet_file, 'a').write('invald wallet')
         wallet_name = "res0"
         not_created_wallet_file = node.wallets_path / wallet_name
         error_message = "Wallet file verification failed. Failed to load database path '{}'. Data is not in recognized format.".format(not_created_wallet_file)
diff --git a/test/functional/wallet_backwards_compatibility.py b/test/functional/wallet_backwards_compatibility.py
index 1f33539873..a67b4676a8 100755
--- a/test/functional/wallet_backwards_compatibility.py
+++ b/test/functional/wallet_backwards_compatibility.py
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ class BackwardsCompatibilityTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         bad_deriv_wallet.dumpwallet(dump_path)
         addr = None
         seed = None
-        with open(dump_path, encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(dump_path) as f:
             for line in f:
                 if f"hdkeypath=m/0'/0'/{LAST_KEYPOOL_INDEX}'" in line:
                     addr = line.split(" ")[4].split("=")[1]
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ class BackwardsCompatibilityTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         os.unlink(dump_path)
         bad_deriv_wallet.dumpwallet(dump_path)
         bad_path_addr = None
-        with open(dump_path, encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(dump_path) as f:
             for line in f:
                 if f"hdkeypath={bad_deriv_path}" in line:
                     bad_path_addr = line.split(" ")[4].split("=")[1]
diff --git a/test/functional/wallet_encryption.py b/test/functional/wallet_encryption.py
index b54852b7c3..f8182e10c1 100755
--- a/test/functional/wallet_encryption.py
+++ b/test/functional/wallet_encryption.py
@@ -134,13 +134,13 @@ class WalletEncryptionTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
             do_wallet_tool("-wallet=noprivs", f"-dumpfile={dumpfile_path}", "dump")
 
             # Modify the dump
-            with open(dumpfile_path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            with open(dumpfile_path, "r") as f:
                 dump_content = f.readlines()
             # Drop the checksum line
             dump_content = dump_content[:-1]
             # Insert a valid mkey line. This corresponds to a passphrase of "pass".
             dump_content.append("046d6b657901000000,300dc926f3b3887aad3d5d5f5a0fc1b1a4a1722f9284bd5c6ff93b64a83902765953939c58fe144013c8b819f42cf698b208e9911e5f0c544fa300000000cc52050000\n")
-            with open(dumpfile_path, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            with open(dumpfile_path, "w") as f:
                 contents = "".join(dump_content)
                 f.write(contents)
                 checksum = hash256(contents.encode())
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ class WalletEncryptionTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
             # Make a new dump and check that there are no mkeys
             dumpfile_path = self.nodes[0].datadir_path / "noprivs_enc.dump"
             do_wallet_tool("-wallet=noprivs_enc", f"-dumpfile={dumpfile_path}", "dump")
-            with open(dumpfile_path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            with open(dumpfile_path, "r") as f:
                 # Check there's nothing with an 'mkey' prefix
                 assert_equal(all([not line.startswith("046d6b6579") for line in f]), True)
 
diff --git a/test/functional/wallet_multiwallet.py b/test/functional/wallet_multiwallet.py
index 64f57cecf6..f15c150687 100755
--- a/test/functional/wallet_multiwallet.py
+++ b/test/functional/wallet_multiwallet.py
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ class MultiWalletTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(['-walletdir=bad'], 'Error: Specified -walletdir "bad" does not exist')
         # should not initialize if the specified walletdir is not a directory
         not_a_dir = wallet_dir('notadir')
-        open(not_a_dir, 'a', encoding="utf8").close()
+        open(not_a_dir, 'a').close()
         self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(['-walletdir=' + not_a_dir], 'Error: Specified -walletdir "' + not_a_dir + '" is not a directory')
 
         # if wallets/ doesn't exist, datadir should be the default wallet dir
diff --git a/test/functional/wallet_signer.py b/test/functional/wallet_signer.py
index c239bb6169..52780e6fb8 100755
--- a/test/functional/wallet_signer.py
+++ b/test/functional/wallet_signer.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class WalletSignerTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.skip_if_no_wallet()
 
     def set_mock_result(self, node, res):
-        with open(os.path.join(node.cwd, "mock_result"), "w", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(os.path.join(node.cwd, "mock_result"), "w") as f:
             f.write(res)
 
     def clear_mock_result(self, node):
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ class WalletSignerTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
 
         assert hww.testmempoolaccept([mock_tx])[0]["allowed"]
 
-        with open(os.path.join(self.nodes[1].cwd, "mock_psbt"), "w", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(os.path.join(self.nodes[1].cwd, "mock_psbt"), "w") as f:
             f.write(mock_psbt_signed["psbt"])
 
         self.log.info('Test send using hww1')
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ class WalletSignerTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         mock_psbt_bumped = mock_wallet.psbtbumpfee(orig_tx_id)["psbt"]
         mock_psbt_bumped_signed = mock_wallet.walletprocesspsbt(psbt=mock_psbt_bumped, sign=True, sighashtype="ALL", bip32derivs=True)
 
-        with open(os.path.join(self.nodes[1].cwd, "mock_psbt"), "w", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(os.path.join(self.nodes[1].cwd, "mock_psbt"), "w") as f:
             f.write(mock_psbt_bumped_signed["psbt"])
 
         self.log.info('Test bumpfee using hww1')
diff --git a/test/fuzz/test_runner.py b/test/fuzz/test_runner.py
index 5b2c847bbb..d31d95edfb 100755
--- a/test/fuzz/test_runner.py
+++ b/test/fuzz/test_runner.py
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ def main():
     # Read config generated by configure.
     config = configparser.ConfigParser()
     configfile = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)) + "/../config.ini"
-    config.read_file(open(configfile, encoding="utf8"))
+    config.read_file(open(configfile))
 
     if not config["components"].getboolean("ENABLE_FUZZ_BINARY"):
         logging.error("Must have fuzz executable built")
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-files.py b/test/lint/lint-files.py
index c5af959e0a..cddaed98db 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-files.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-files.py
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ def check_shebang_file_permissions(files_meta) -> int:
 
             # *.py files which don't contain an `if __name__ == '__main__'` are not expected to be executed directly
             if file_meta.extension == "py":
-                with open(filename, "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+                with open(filename, "r") as f:
                     file_data = f.read()
                 if not re.search("""if __name__ == ['"]__main__['"]:""", file_data):
                     continue
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-include-guards.py b/test/lint/lint-include-guards.py
index e16bb94a77..e0d4eb95fd 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-include-guards.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-include-guards.py
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ def main():
 
         regex_pattern = f'^#(ifndef|define|endif //) {header_id}'
 
-        with open(header_file, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        with open(header_file, 'r') as f:
             header_file_contents = f.readlines()
 
         count = 0
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-includes.py b/test/lint/lint-includes.py
index b0c91b9011..0f108904b8 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-includes.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-includes.py
@@ -40,13 +40,13 @@ EXPECTED_BOOST_INCLUDES = [
 
 
 def get_toplevel():
-    return check_output(["git", "rev-parse", "--show-toplevel"], text=True, encoding="utf8").rstrip("\n")
+    return check_output(["git", "rev-parse", "--show-toplevel"], text=True).rstrip("\n")
 
 
 def list_files_by_suffix(suffixes):
     exclude_args = [":(exclude)" + dir for dir in EXCLUDED_DIRS]
 
-    files_list = check_output(["git", "ls-files", "src"] + exclude_args, text=True, encoding="utf8").splitlines()
+    files_list = check_output(["git", "ls-files", "src"] + exclude_args, text=True).splitlines()
 
     return [file for file in files_list if file.endswith(suffixes)]
 
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ def find_included_cpps():
     included_cpps = list()
 
     try:
-        included_cpps = check_output(["git", "grep", "-E", r"^#include [<\"][^>\"]+\.cpp[>\"]", "--", "*.cpp", "*.h"], text=True, encoding="utf8").splitlines()
+        included_cpps = check_output(["git", "grep", "-E", r"^#include [<\"][^>\"]+\.cpp[>\"]", "--", "*.cpp", "*.h"], text=True).splitlines()
     except CalledProcessError as e:
         if e.returncode > 1:
             raise e
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ def find_extra_boosts():
     exclusion_set = set()
 
     try:
-        included_boosts = check_output(["git", "grep", "-E", r"^#include <boost/", "--", "*.cpp", "*.h"], text=True, encoding="utf8").splitlines()
+        included_boosts = check_output(["git", "grep", "-E", r"^#include <boost/", "--", "*.cpp", "*.h"], text=True).splitlines()
     except CalledProcessError as e:
         if e.returncode > 1:
             raise e
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ def find_quote_syntax_inclusions():
     quote_syntax_inclusions = list()
 
     try:
-        quote_syntax_inclusions = check_output(["git", "grep", r"^#include \"", "--", "*.cpp", "*.h"] + exclude_args, text=True, encoding="utf8").splitlines()
+        quote_syntax_inclusions = check_output(["git", "grep", r"^#include \"", "--", "*.cpp", "*.h"] + exclude_args, text=True).splitlines()
     except CalledProcessError as e:
         if e.returncode > 1:
             raise e
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ def main():
 
     # Check for duplicate includes
     for filename in list_files_by_suffix((".cpp", ".h")):
-        with open(filename, "r", encoding="utf8") as file:
+        with open(filename, "r") as file:
             include_list = [line.rstrip("\n") for line in file if re.match(r"^#include", line)]
 
         duplicates = find_duplicate_includes(include_list)
@@ -148,13 +148,13 @@ def main():
     if extra_boosts:
         for boost in extra_boosts:
             print(f"A new Boost dependency in the form of \"{boost}\" appears to have been introduced:")
-            print(check_output(["git", "grep", boost, "--", "*.cpp", "*.h"], text=True, encoding="utf8"))
+            print(check_output(["git", "grep", boost, "--", "*.cpp", "*.h"], text=True))
         exit_code = 1
 
     # Check if Boost dependencies are no longer used
     for expected_boost in EXPECTED_BOOST_INCLUDES:
         try:
-            check_output(["git", "grep", "-q", r"^#include <%s>" % expected_boost, "--", "*.cpp", "*.h"], text=True, encoding="utf8")
+            check_output(["git", "grep", "-q", r"^#include <%s>" % expected_boost, "--", "*.cpp", "*.h"], text=True)
         except CalledProcessError as e:
             if e.returncode > 1:
                 raise e
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-locale-dependence.py b/test/lint/lint-locale-dependence.py
index e728123e69..c6a6458709 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-locale-dependence.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-locale-dependence.py
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ def find_locale_dependent_function_uses():
     git_grep_output = list()
 
     try:
-        git_grep_output = check_output(git_grep_command, text=True, encoding="utf8").splitlines()
+        git_grep_output = check_output(git_grep_command, text=True).splitlines()
     except CalledProcessError as e:
         if e.returncode > 1:
             raise e
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py b/test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py
index 59515e7888..3602289d18 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def main():
         if re.search('src/(secp256k1|minisketch)/', file_path):
             continue
 
-        with open(file_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as file_obj:
+        with open(file_path, 'r') as file_obj:
             contents = file_obj.read()
 
         non_comment_pattern = re.compile(r'^\s*((?!#).+)$', re.MULTILINE)
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-tests.py b/test/lint/lint-tests.py
index 100339d217..f4072d691c 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-tests.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-tests.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ def grep_boost_fixture_test_suite():
         "src/test/**.cpp",
         "src/wallet/test/**.cpp",
     ]
-    return subprocess.check_output(command, text=True, encoding="utf8")
+    return subprocess.check_output(command, text=True)
 
 
 def check_matching_test_names(test_suite_list):

From fa71c15f8610816a6ee0426cd396315da3d27c30 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: MarcoFalke <*~=`'#}+{/-|&$^_@721217.xyz>
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2025 11:35:36 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 5/7] scripted-diff: Bump copyright headers after encoding
 changes

Historically, the headers have been bumped some time after a file has
been touched. Do it now to avoid having to touch them again in the
future for that reason.

-BEGIN VERIFY SCRIPT-
 sed -i --regexp-extended 's;( 20[0-2][0-9])(-20[0-2][0-9])? The Bitcoin Core developers;\1-present The Bitcoin Core developers;g' $( git show --pretty="" --name-only HEAD~0 )
-END VERIFY SCRIPT-
---
 contrib/devtools/circular-dependencies.py         | 2 +-
 contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py              | 2 +-
 contrib/filter-lcov.py                            | 2 +-
 contrib/linearize/linearize-data.py               | 2 +-
 contrib/linearize/linearize-hashes.py             | 2 +-
 contrib/message-capture/message-capture-parser.py | 2 +-
 contrib/seeds/generate-seeds.py                   | 2 +-
 contrib/seeds/makeseeds.py                        | 2 +-
 contrib/verify-binaries/verify.py                 | 2 +-
 contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py          | 2 +-
 test/functional/feature_asmap.py                  | 2 +-
 test/functional/feature_includeconf.py            | 2 +-
 test/functional/feature_loadblock.py              | 2 +-
 test/functional/feature_notifications.py          | 2 +-
 test/functional/feature_startupnotify.py          | 2 +-
 test/functional/feature_taproot.py                | 2 +-
 test/functional/feature_versionbits_warning.py    | 2 +-
 test/functional/mining_mainnet.py                 | 2 +-
 test/functional/mocks/invalid_signer.py           | 2 +-
 test/functional/mocks/signer.py                   | 2 +-
 test/functional/rpc_createmultisig.py             | 2 +-
 test/functional/rpc_decodescript.py               | 2 +-
 test/functional/rpc_getblockstats.py              | 2 +-
 test/functional/rpc_help.py                       | 2 +-
 test/functional/rpc_psbt.py                       | 2 +-
 test/functional/rpc_signer.py                     | 2 +-
 test/functional/rpc_users.py                      | 2 +-
 test/functional/rpc_whitelist.py                  | 2 +-
 test/functional/test_framework/coverage.py        | 2 +-
 test/functional/test_framework/crypto/ellswift.py | 2 +-
 test/functional/test_framework/netutil.py         | 2 +-
 test/functional/test_framework/util.py            | 2 +-
 test/functional/tool_wallet.py                    | 2 +-
 test/functional/wallet_backup.py                  | 2 +-
 test/functional/wallet_encryption.py              | 2 +-
 test/functional/wallet_multiwallet.py             | 2 +-
 test/functional/wallet_signer.py                  | 2 +-
 test/lint/lint-files.py                           | 2 +-
 test/lint/lint-include-guards.py                  | 2 +-
 test/lint/lint-includes.py                        | 2 +-
 test/lint/lint-tests.py                           | 2 +-
 41 files changed, 41 insertions(+), 41 deletions(-)

diff --git a/contrib/devtools/circular-dependencies.py b/contrib/devtools/circular-dependencies.py
index 09362c9f41..af19b3a05e 100755
--- a/contrib/devtools/circular-dependencies.py
+++ b/contrib/devtools/circular-dependencies.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2020 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2018-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
diff --git a/contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py b/contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py
index 39b67ec492..0d9f354315 100755
--- a/contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py
+++ b/contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2016-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2016-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
diff --git a/contrib/filter-lcov.py b/contrib/filter-lcov.py
index 373dfe3ee6..1dedea6ab4 100755
--- a/contrib/filter-lcov.py
+++ b/contrib/filter-lcov.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2017-2020 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2017-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
diff --git a/contrib/linearize/linearize-data.py b/contrib/linearize/linearize-data.py
index 1613f5cae2..9b29fe7170 100755
--- a/contrib/linearize/linearize-data.py
+++ b/contrib/linearize/linearize-data.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #
 # linearize-data.py: Construct a linear, no-fork version of the chain.
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2013-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2013-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 #
diff --git a/contrib/linearize/linearize-hashes.py b/contrib/linearize/linearize-hashes.py
index ddd9a7ba23..7e9978729a 100755
--- a/contrib/linearize/linearize-hashes.py
+++ b/contrib/linearize/linearize-hashes.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #
 # linearize-hashes.py:  List blocks in a linear, no-fork version of the chain.
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2013-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2013-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 #
diff --git a/contrib/message-capture/message-capture-parser.py b/contrib/message-capture/message-capture-parser.py
index 19ab8d02c7..1d2d633253 100755
--- a/contrib/message-capture/message-capture-parser.py
+++ b/contrib/message-capture/message-capture-parser.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2020-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2020-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Parse message capture binary files.  To be used in conjunction with -capturemessages."""
diff --git a/contrib/seeds/generate-seeds.py b/contrib/seeds/generate-seeds.py
index 41261091c4..9ad488059b 100755
--- a/contrib/seeds/generate-seeds.py
+++ b/contrib/seeds/generate-seeds.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2014-2021 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2014-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 '''
diff --git a/contrib/seeds/makeseeds.py b/contrib/seeds/makeseeds.py
index 1cb9603998..0af614a00b 100755
--- a/contrib/seeds/makeseeds.py
+++ b/contrib/seeds/makeseeds.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2013-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2013-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 #
diff --git a/contrib/verify-binaries/verify.py b/contrib/verify-binaries/verify.py
index 6f5a933fff..af89112212 100755
--- a/contrib/verify-binaries/verify.py
+++ b/contrib/verify-binaries/verify.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2020-2021 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2020-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Script for verifying Bitcoin Core release binaries.
diff --git a/contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py b/contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py
index 808f26ed18..b5c028cf24 100755
--- a/contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py
+++ b/contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2018-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Verify commits against a trusted keys list."""
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_asmap.py b/test/functional/feature_asmap.py
index 139725bbba..6529827073 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_asmap.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_asmap.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2020-2021 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2020-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test asmap config argument for ASN-based IP bucketing.
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_includeconf.py b/test/functional/feature_includeconf.py
index a416b2293d..2ebb01fde4 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_includeconf.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_includeconf.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2021 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2018-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Tests the includeconf argument
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_loadblock.py b/test/functional/feature_loadblock.py
index 2bf700d16c..fc942cadc4 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_loadblock.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_loadblock.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2017-2021 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2017-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test loadblock option
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_notifications.py b/test/functional/feature_notifications.py
index 12bc6b1804..652c1e023b 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_notifications.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_notifications.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2014-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2014-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test the -alertnotify, -blocknotify and -walletnotify options."""
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_startupnotify.py b/test/functional/feature_startupnotify.py
index d9c2f864c7..dc1a7eb804 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_startupnotify.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_startupnotify.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2020-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2020-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test -startupnotify."""
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_taproot.py b/test/functional/feature_taproot.py
index d3c1ac0379..bdf21ce7dc 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_taproot.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_taproot.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2019-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2019-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 # Test Taproot softfork (BIPs 340-342)
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_versionbits_warning.py b/test/functional/feature_versionbits_warning.py
index bc4b67915b..79f512adea 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_versionbits_warning.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_versionbits_warning.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2016-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2016-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test version bits warning system.
diff --git a/test/functional/mining_mainnet.py b/test/functional/mining_mainnet.py
index 122ea48173..04e7c0c20d 100755
--- a/test/functional/mining_mainnet.py
+++ b/test/functional/mining_mainnet.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2025 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2025-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test mining on an alternate mainnet
diff --git a/test/functional/mocks/invalid_signer.py b/test/functional/mocks/invalid_signer.py
index b9a5c2a108..90380c4d7a 100755
--- a/test/functional/mocks/invalid_signer.py
+++ b/test/functional/mocks/invalid_signer.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2018-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
diff --git a/test/functional/mocks/signer.py b/test/functional/mocks/signer.py
index da5d9d9f75..a13c97d121 100755
--- a/test/functional/mocks/signer.py
+++ b/test/functional/mocks/signer.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2018-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_createmultisig.py b/test/functional/rpc_createmultisig.py
index 5ae6c39e25..74b9debf88 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_createmultisig.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_createmultisig.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2015-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2015-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test multisig RPCs"""
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_decodescript.py b/test/functional/rpc_decodescript.py
index 40a53ce24d..d23b9edfd2 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_decodescript.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_decodescript.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2015-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2015-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test decoding scripts via decodescript RPC command."""
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_getblockstats.py b/test/functional/rpc_getblockstats.py
index fee23d20b9..29d70a056e 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_getblockstats.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_getblockstats.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2017-2021 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2017-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_help.py b/test/functional/rpc_help.py
index 92ee5d1596..f8265c3215 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_help.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_help.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2018-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test RPC help output."""
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_psbt.py b/test/functional/rpc_psbt.py
index 1cd2a1da77..9d6049f8a0 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_psbt.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_psbt.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2018-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test the Partially Signed Transaction RPCs.
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_signer.py b/test/functional/rpc_signer.py
index 0cfc232442..3b1fe88d54 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_signer.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_signer.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2017-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2017-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test external signer.
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_users.py b/test/functional/rpc_users.py
index a12adc80e3..9650480a55 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_users.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_users.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2015-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2015-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test multiple RPC users."""
diff --git a/test/functional/rpc_whitelist.py b/test/functional/rpc_whitelist.py
index 5acae0cbcb..da63b76df8 100755
--- a/test/functional/rpc_whitelist.py
+++ b/test/functional/rpc_whitelist.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2017-2019 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2017-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/coverage.py b/test/functional/test_framework/coverage.py
index 29e918d426..0aea2b7899 100644
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/coverage.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/coverage.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2015-2021 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2015-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Utilities for doing coverage analysis on the RPC interface.
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/crypto/ellswift.py b/test/functional/test_framework/crypto/ellswift.py
index 4880ef5b3b..2a2caa813e 100644
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/crypto/ellswift.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/crypto/ellswift.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2022-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test-only Elligator Swift implementation
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/netutil.py b/test/functional/test_framework/netutil.py
index 6cb34eb815..75577b0ca8 100644
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/netutil.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/netutil.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2014-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2014-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Linux network utilities.
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/util.py b/test/functional/test_framework/util.py
index f08b36d5e9..46e5435351 100644
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/util.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/util.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2014-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2014-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Helpful routines for regression testing."""
diff --git a/test/functional/tool_wallet.py b/test/functional/tool_wallet.py
index d5bc4ad67b..786ef627b8 100755
--- a/test/functional/tool_wallet.py
+++ b/test/functional/tool_wallet.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2018-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test bitcoin-wallet."""
diff --git a/test/functional/wallet_backup.py b/test/functional/wallet_backup.py
index 4d08ace424..3dc3159071 100755
--- a/test/functional/wallet_backup.py
+++ b/test/functional/wallet_backup.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2014-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2014-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test the wallet backup features.
diff --git a/test/functional/wallet_encryption.py b/test/functional/wallet_encryption.py
index f8182e10c1..869b9ca482 100755
--- a/test/functional/wallet_encryption.py
+++ b/test/functional/wallet_encryption.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2016-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2016-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test Wallet encryption"""
diff --git a/test/functional/wallet_multiwallet.py b/test/functional/wallet_multiwallet.py
index f15c150687..83de8e09fa 100755
--- a/test/functional/wallet_multiwallet.py
+++ b/test/functional/wallet_multiwallet.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2017-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2017-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test multiwallet.
diff --git a/test/functional/wallet_signer.py b/test/functional/wallet_signer.py
index 52780e6fb8..4b8e63887a 100755
--- a/test/functional/wallet_signer.py
+++ b/test/functional/wallet_signer.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2017-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2017-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test external signer.
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-files.py b/test/lint/lint-files.py
index cddaed98db..b510830d45 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-files.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-files.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2021-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2021-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-include-guards.py b/test/lint/lint-include-guards.py
index e0d4eb95fd..c56eeab33b 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-include-guards.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-include-guards.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2018-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-includes.py b/test/lint/lint-includes.py
index 0f108904b8..cccaec73f1 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-includes.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-includes.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2018-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 #
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-tests.py b/test/lint/lint-tests.py
index f4072d691c..919912dc69 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-tests.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-tests.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2018-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 

From fab085c15f7221986f73af7e05e799edf3eadaf0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: MarcoFalke <*~=`'#}+{/-|&$^_@721217.xyz>
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2025 13:04:14 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 6/7] contrib: Use text=True in subprocess over manual encoding
 handling

All touched Python scripts already assume and require UTF8, so manually
specifying encoding or decoding for functions in the subprocess module
is redundant to just using text=True, which exists since Python 3.7
---
 contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py             | 10 +++++-----
 contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py         | 16 ++++++++--------
 .../feature_framework_startup_failures.py        |  6 ++----
 test/functional/tool_signet_miner.py             | 10 +++++-----
 test/lint/check-doc.py                           | 12 +++++-------
 test/lint/lint-files.py                          |  6 +++---
 test/lint/lint-include-guards.py                 |  2 +-
 test/lint/lint-python-dead-code.py               |  8 ++++----
 test/lint/lint-python.py                         |  4 ++--
 test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py                   |  4 ++--
 test/lint/lint-spelling.py                       |  8 ++++----
 test/lint/lint-submodule.py                      |  4 ++--
 12 files changed, 43 insertions(+), 47 deletions(-)

diff --git a/contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py b/contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py
index 0d9f354315..aa77de8aa6 100755
--- a/contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py
+++ b/contrib/devtools/copyright_header.py
@@ -54,12 +54,12 @@ GIT_LS_CMD = 'git ls-files --full-name'.split(' ')
 GIT_TOPLEVEL_CMD = 'git rev-parse --show-toplevel'.split(' ')
 
 def call_git_ls(base_directory):
-    out = subprocess.check_output([*GIT_LS_CMD, base_directory])
-    return [f for f in out.decode("utf-8").split('\n') if f != '']
+    out = subprocess.check_output([*GIT_LS_CMD, base_directory], text=True)
+    return [f for f in out.split('\n') if f != '']
 
 def call_git_toplevel():
     "Returns the absolute path to the project root"
-    return subprocess.check_output(GIT_TOPLEVEL_CMD).strip().decode("utf-8")
+    return subprocess.check_output(GIT_TOPLEVEL_CMD, text=True).strip()
 
 def get_filenames_to_examine(base_directory):
     "Returns an array of absolute paths to any project files in the base_directory that pass the include/exclude filters"
@@ -298,8 +298,8 @@ def report_cmd(argv):
 GIT_LOG_CMD = "git log --pretty=format:%%ai %s"
 
 def call_git_log(filename):
-    out = subprocess.check_output((GIT_LOG_CMD % filename).split(' '))
-    return out.decode("utf-8").split('\n')
+    out = subprocess.check_output((GIT_LOG_CMD % filename).split(' '), text=True)
+    return out.split('\n')
 
 def get_git_change_years(filename):
     git_log_lines = call_git_log(filename)
diff --git a/contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py b/contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py
index b5c028cf24..1af6b0314e 100755
--- a/contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py
+++ b/contrib/verify-commits/verify-commits.py
@@ -140,8 +140,8 @@ def main():
 
         # Check that the commit (and parents) was signed with a trusted key
         valid_sig = False
-        verify_res = subprocess.run([GIT, '-c', 'gpg.program={}/gpg.sh'.format(dirname), 'verify-commit', "--raw", current_commit], capture_output=True)
-        for line in verify_res.stderr.decode().splitlines():
+        verify_res = subprocess.run([GIT, '-c', 'gpg.program={}/gpg.sh'.format(dirname), 'verify-commit', "--raw", current_commit], text=True, capture_output=True)
+        for line in verify_res.stderr.splitlines():
             if line.startswith("[GNUPG:] VALIDSIG "):
                 key = line.split(" ")[-1]
                 valid_sig = key in trusted_keys
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ def main():
             if prev_commit != "":
                 print("No parent of {} was signed with a trusted key!".format(prev_commit), file=sys.stderr)
                 print("Parents are:", file=sys.stderr)
-                parents = subprocess.check_output([GIT, 'show', '-s', '--format=format:%P', prev_commit]).decode('utf8').splitlines()[0].split(' ')
+                parents = subprocess.check_output([GIT, 'show', '-s', '--format=format:%P', prev_commit], text=True).splitlines()[0].split(' ')
                 for parent in parents:
                     subprocess.call([GIT, 'show', '-s', parent], stdout=sys.stderr)
             else:
@@ -162,29 +162,29 @@ def main():
         # Check the Tree-SHA512
         if (verify_tree or prev_commit == "") and current_commit not in incorrect_sha512_allowed:
             tree_hash = tree_sha512sum(current_commit)
-            if ("Tree-SHA512: {}".format(tree_hash)) not in subprocess.check_output([GIT, 'show', '-s', '--format=format:%B', current_commit]).decode('utf8').splitlines():
+            if ("Tree-SHA512: {}".format(tree_hash)) not in subprocess.check_output([GIT, 'show', '-s', '--format=format:%B', current_commit], text=True).splitlines():
                 print("Tree-SHA512 did not match for commit " + current_commit, file=sys.stderr)
                 sys.exit(1)
 
         # Merge commits should only have two parents
-        parents = subprocess.check_output([GIT, 'show', '-s', '--format=format:%P', current_commit]).decode('utf8').splitlines()[0].split(' ')
+        parents = subprocess.check_output([GIT, 'show', '-s', '--format=format:%P', current_commit], text=True).splitlines()[0].split(' ')
         if len(parents) > 2:
             print("Commit {} is an octopus merge".format(current_commit), file=sys.stderr)
             sys.exit(1)
 
         # Check that the merge commit is clean
-        commit_time = int(subprocess.check_output([GIT, 'show', '-s', '--format=format:%ct', current_commit]).decode('utf8').splitlines()[0])
+        commit_time = int(subprocess.check_output([GIT, 'show', '-s', '--format=format:%ct', current_commit], text=True).splitlines()[0])
         check_merge = commit_time > time.time() - args.clean_merge * 24 * 60 * 60  # Only check commits in clean_merge days
         allow_unclean = current_commit in unclean_merge_allowed
         if len(parents) == 2 and check_merge and not allow_unclean:
-            current_tree = subprocess.check_output([GIT, 'show', '--format=%T', current_commit]).decode('utf8').splitlines()[0]
+            current_tree = subprocess.check_output([GIT, 'show', '--format=%T', current_commit], text=True).splitlines()[0]
 
             # This merge-tree functionality requires git >= 2.38. The
             # --write-tree option was added in order to opt-in to the new
             # behavior. Older versions of git will not recognize the option and
             # will instead exit with code 128.
             try:
-                recreated_tree = subprocess.check_output([GIT, "merge-tree", "--write-tree", parents[0], parents[1]]).decode('utf8').splitlines()[0]
+                recreated_tree = subprocess.check_output([GIT, "merge-tree", "--write-tree", parents[0], parents[1]], text=True).splitlines()[0]
             except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
                 if e.returncode == 128:
                     print("git v2.38+ is required for this functionality.", file=sys.stderr)
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_framework_startup_failures.py b/test/functional/feature_framework_startup_failures.py
index 84a7d9d837..43dbeae7c5 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_framework_startup_failures.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_framework_startup_failures.py
@@ -43,15 +43,13 @@ class FeatureFrameworkStartupFailures(BitcoinTestFramework):
         args = [sys.executable] + sys.argv + [f"--tmpdir={self.options.tmpdir}/{subdir}", f"--internal_test={test.__name__}"] + internal_args
 
         try:
-            # The subprocess encoding argument gives different results for e.output
-            # on Linux/Windows, so handle decoding by ourselves for consistency.
             output = subprocess.run(args, timeout=60 * self.options.timeout_factor,
-                                    stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT).stdout.decode("utf-8")
+                                    stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, text=True).stdout
         except subprocess.TimeoutExpired as e:
             print("Unexpected child process timeout!\n"
                   "WARNING: Timeouts like this halt execution of TestNode logic, "
                   "meaning dangling bitcoind processes are to be expected.\n"
-                  f"<CHILD OUTPUT BEGIN>\n{e.output.decode('utf-8')}\n<CHILD OUTPUT END>",
+                  f"<CHILD OUTPUT BEGIN>\n{e.output}\n<CHILD OUTPUT END>",
                   file=sys.stderr)
             raise
 
diff --git a/test/functional/tool_signet_miner.py b/test/functional/tool_signet_miner.py
index dbf64b645a..2be4733239 100755
--- a/test/functional/tool_signet_miner.py
+++ b/test/functional/tool_signet_miner.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2022-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 """Test signet miner tool"""
@@ -102,8 +102,8 @@ class SignetMinerTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
                 'genpsbt',
                 f'--address={node.getnewaddress()}',
                 '--poolnum=98',
-            ], check=True, input=json.dumps(template).encode('utf8'), capture_output=True)
-        psbt = genpsbt.stdout.decode('utf8').strip()
+            ], check=True, text=True, input=json.dumps(template), capture_output=True)
+        psbt = genpsbt.stdout.strip()
         if sign:
             self.log.debug("Sign the PSBT")
             res = node.walletprocesspsbt(psbt=psbt, sign=True, sighashtype='ALL')
@@ -112,8 +112,8 @@ class SignetMinerTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         solvepsbt = subprocess.run(base_cmd + [
                 'solvepsbt',
                 f'--grind-cmd={shlex.join(util_argv)}',
-            ], check=True, input=psbt.encode('utf8'), capture_output=True)
-        node.submitblock(solvepsbt.stdout.decode('utf8').strip())
+            ], check=True, text=True, input=psbt, capture_output=True)
+        node.submitblock(solvepsbt.stdout.strip())
         assert_equal(node.getblockcount(), n_blocks + 1)
 
     def run_test(self):
diff --git a/test/lint/check-doc.py b/test/lint/check-doc.py
index e47ff30f31..4dc605b1d7 100755
--- a/test/lint/check-doc.py
+++ b/test/lint/check-doc.py
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2015-2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2015-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
 '''
 This checks if all command line args are documented.
 Return value is 0 to indicate no error.
-
-Author: @MarcoFalke
 '''
 
 from subprocess import check_output
@@ -27,8 +25,8 @@ SET_DOC_OPTIONAL = set(['-h', '-?', '-dbcrashratio', '-forcecompactdb', '-ipccon
 
 
 def lint_missing_argument_documentation():
-    used = check_output(CMD_GREP_ARGS, shell=True).decode('utf8').strip()
-    docd = check_output(CMD_GREP_DOCS, shell=True).decode('utf8').strip()
+    used = check_output(CMD_GREP_ARGS, shell=True, text=True).strip()
+    docd = check_output(CMD_GREP_DOCS, shell=True, text=True).strip()
 
     args_used = set(re.findall(re.compile(REGEX_ARG), used))
     args_docd = set(re.findall(re.compile(REGEX_DOC), docd)).union(SET_DOC_OPTIONAL)
@@ -46,8 +44,8 @@ def lint_missing_argument_documentation():
 
 
 def lint_missing_hidden_wallet_args():
-    wallet_args = check_output(CMD_GREP_WALLET_ARGS, shell=True).decode('utf8').strip()
-    wallet_hidden_args = check_output(CMD_GREP_WALLET_HIDDEN_ARGS, shell=True).decode('utf8').strip()
+    wallet_args = check_output(CMD_GREP_WALLET_ARGS, shell=True, text=True).strip()
+    wallet_hidden_args = check_output(CMD_GREP_WALLET_HIDDEN_ARGS, shell=True, text=True).strip()
 
     wallet_args = set(re.findall(re.compile(REGEX_DOC), wallet_args))
     wallet_hidden_args = set(re.findall(re.compile(r'    "([^"=]+)'), wallet_hidden_args))
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-files.py b/test/lint/lint-files.py
index b510830d45..6d9d7d27d7 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-files.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-files.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ def get_git_file_metadata() -> dict[str, FileMeta]:
     '''
     Return a dictionary mapping the name of all files in the repository to git tree metadata.
     '''
-    files_raw = check_output(CMD_ALL_FILES).decode("utf8").rstrip("\0").split("\0")
+    files_raw = check_output(CMD_ALL_FILES, text=True).rstrip("\0").split("\0")
     files = {}
     for file_spec in files_raw:
         meta = FileMeta(file_spec)
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ def check_shebang_file_permissions(files_meta) -> int:
     """
     Checks every file that contains a shebang line to ensure it has an executable permission
     """
-    filenames = check_output(CMD_SHEBANG_FILES).decode("utf8").strip().split("\n")
+    filenames = check_output(CMD_SHEBANG_FILES, text=True).strip().split("\n")
 
     # The git grep command we use returns files which contain a shebang on any line within the file
     # so we need to filter the list to only files with the shebang on the first line
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ def check_shebang_file_permissions(files_meta) -> int:
 
 
 def main() -> NoReturn:
-    root_dir = check_output(CMD_TOP_LEVEL).decode("utf8").strip()
+    root_dir = check_output(CMD_TOP_LEVEL, text=True).strip()
     os.chdir(root_dir)
 
     files = get_git_file_metadata()
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-include-guards.py b/test/lint/lint-include-guards.py
index c56eeab33b..dbbf0325c4 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-include-guards.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-include-guards.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ def _get_header_file_lst() -> list[str]:
     """
     git_cmd_lst = ['git', 'ls-files', '--', '*.h']
     header_file_lst = check_output(
-        git_cmd_lst).decode('utf-8').splitlines()
+        git_cmd_lst, text=True).splitlines()
 
     header_file_lst = [hf for hf in header_file_lst
                        if not any(ef in hf for ef
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-python-dead-code.py b/test/lint/lint-python-dead-code.py
index b3f9394788..cd6471e2ab 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-python-dead-code.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-python-dead-code.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2022-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
@@ -24,15 +24,15 @@ def check_vulture_install():
 def main():
     check_vulture_install()
 
-    files = check_output(FILES_ARGS).decode("utf-8").splitlines()
+    files = check_output(FILES_ARGS, text=True).splitlines()
     # --min-confidence 100 will only report code that is guaranteed to be unused within the analyzed files.
     # Any value below 100 introduces the risk of false positives, which would create an unacceptable maintenance burden.
     vulture_args = ['vulture', '--min-confidence=100'] + files
 
     try:
-        check_output(vulture_args, stderr=STDOUT)
+        check_output(vulture_args, stderr=STDOUT, text=True)
     except CalledProcessError as e:
-        print(e.output.decode("utf-8"), end="")
+        print(e.output, end="")
         print("Python dead code detection found some issues")
         exit(1)
 
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-python.py b/test/lint/lint-python.py
index e2dbe25b88..fd1a84951d 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-python.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-python.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2022-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ def check_dependencies():
 def main():
     check_dependencies()
 
-    mypy_files = subprocess.check_output(MYPY_FILES_ARGS).decode("utf-8").splitlines()
+    mypy_files = subprocess.check_output(MYPY_FILES_ARGS, text=True).splitlines()
     mypy_args = ['mypy', '--show-error-codes'] + mypy_files
 
     try:
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py b/test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py
index 3602289d18..80b1d4d0f1 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-shell-locale.py
@@ -27,10 +27,10 @@ def get_shell_files_list():
         '*.sh',
     ]
     try:
-        return subprocess.check_output(command, stderr = subprocess.STDOUT).decode('utf-8').splitlines()
+        return subprocess.check_output(command, stderr = subprocess.STDOUT, text=True).splitlines()
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
         if e.returncode > 1: # return code is 1 when match is empty
-            print(e.output.decode('utf-8'), end='')
+            print(e.output, end='')
             sys.exit(1)
         return []
 
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-spelling.py b/test/lint/lint-spelling.py
index 945288a3dd..cd34162c88 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-spelling.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-spelling.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2022-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
@@ -29,13 +29,13 @@ def check_codespell_install():
 def main():
     check_codespell_install()
 
-    files = check_output(FILES_ARGS).decode("utf-8").splitlines()
+    files = check_output(FILES_ARGS, text=True).splitlines()
     codespell_args = ['codespell', '--check-filenames', '--disable-colors', '--quiet-level=7', '--ignore-words={}'.format(IGNORE_WORDS_FILE)] + files
 
     try:
-        check_output(codespell_args, stderr=STDOUT)
+        check_output(codespell_args, stderr=STDOUT, text=True)
     except CalledProcessError as e:
-        print(e.output.decode("utf-8"), end="")
+        print(e.output, end="")
         print('^ Warning: codespell identified likely spelling errors. Any false positives? Add them to the list of ignored words in {}'.format(IGNORE_WORDS_FILE))
 
 
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-submodule.py b/test/lint/lint-submodule.py
index 4d2fbf088f..d5700d3369 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-submodule.py
+++ b/test/lint/lint-submodule.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2022 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Copyright (c) 2022-present The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
 
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import sys
 
 def main():
     submodules_list = subprocess.check_output(['git', 'submodule', 'status', '--recursive'],
-                                                text = True, encoding = 'utf8').rstrip('\n')
+                                                text = True).rstrip('\n')
     if submodules_list:
         print("These submodules were found, delete them:\n", submodules_list)
         sys.exit(1)

From fad61185861a6a9ed806c387aa63d2b31262b1db Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: MarcoFalke <*~=`'#}+{/-|&$^_@721217.xyz>
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2025 13:28:36 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 7/7] test: Fix "typo" in written invalid content

The appended content is irrelevant, but fix the "typo" to avoid
spellchecker warnings.
---
 test/functional/wallet_backup.py | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/test/functional/wallet_backup.py b/test/functional/wallet_backup.py
index 3dc3159071..c658af2631 100755
--- a/test/functional/wallet_backup.py
+++ b/test/functional/wallet_backup.py
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ class WalletBackupTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
     def restore_invalid_wallet(self):
         node = self.nodes[3]
         invalid_wallet_file = self.nodes[0].datadir_path / 'invalid_wallet_file.bak'
-        open(invalid_wallet_file, 'a').write('invald wallet')
+        open(invalid_wallet_file, "a").write("invalid_wallet_content")
         wallet_name = "res0"
         not_created_wallet_file = node.wallets_path / wallet_name
         error_message = "Wallet file verification failed. Failed to load database path '{}'. Data is not in recognized format.".format(not_created_wallet_file)