diff --git a/pygit2/errors.py b/pygit2/errors.py
index d95bfaa6..be13dfc4 100644
--- a/pygit2/errors.py
+++ b/pygit2/errors.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def check_error(err, io=False):
     # Error message
     giterr = C.git_error_last()
     if giterr != ffi.NULL:
-        message = ffi.string(giterr.message).decode('utf8')
+        message = ffi.string(giterr.message).decode('utf8', errors='surrogateescape')
     else:
         message = f'err {err} (no message provided)'
 
diff --git a/pygit2/utils.py b/pygit2/utils.py
index 6a595e55..3720888f 100644
--- a/pygit2/utils.py
+++ b/pygit2/utils.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ def maybe_string(ptr):
     if not ptr:
         return None
 
-    return ffi.string(ptr).decode('utf8')
+    return ffi.string(ptr).decode('utf8', errors='surrogateescape')
 
 
 def to_bytes(s, encoding='utf-8', errors='strict'):
diff --git a/test/test_nonunicode.py b/test/test_nonunicode.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..06dfc0fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_nonunicode.py
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+# Copyright 2010-2024 The pygit2 contributors
+#
+# This file is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2,
+# as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+#
+# In addition to the permissions in the GNU General Public License,
+# the authors give you unlimited permission to link the compiled
+# version of this file into combinations with other programs,
+# and to distribute those combinations without any restriction
+# coming from the use of this file.  (The General Public License
+# restrictions do apply in other respects; for example, they cover
+# modification of the file, and distribution when not linked into
+# a combined executable.)
+#
+# This file is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+# General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to
+# the Free Software Foundation, 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
+# Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
+
+"""Tests for non unicode byte strings"""
+
+import pygit2
+import os
+import shutil
+
+
+bstring = b'\xc3master'
+
+def test_nonunicode_branchname(testrepo):
+    folderpath = 'temp_repo_nonutf'
+    if os.path.exists(folderpath):
+        shutil.rmtree(folderpath)
+    newrepo = pygit2.clone_repository(
+        path=folderpath, url='https://github.com/pygit2/test_branch_notutf.git'
+    )
+    assert bstring in [
+        (ref.split('/')[-1]).encode('utf8', 'surrogateescape')
+        for ref in newrepo.listall_references()
+    ]  # Remote branch among references: 'refs/remotes/origin/\udcc3master'