diff --git a/common/common.cpp b/common/common.cpp
index ae44f054ab..6099f2ecc4 100644
--- a/common/common.cpp
+++ b/common/common.cpp
@@ -969,6 +969,17 @@ void common_set_env(const std::string & name, const std::string & value) {
 #endif
 }
 
+std::filesystem::path common_get_path_from_env(const std::string & name) {
+#if defined(_WIN32)
+    const std::wstring wname = utf8_to_wstring(name);
+    const wchar_t * wvalue = _wgetenv(wname.c_str());
+    return wvalue ? std::filesystem::path(wvalue) : std::filesystem::path();
+#else
+    const char * value = std::getenv(name.c_str());
+    return value ? std::filesystem::path(value) : std::filesystem::path();
+#endif
+}
+
 std::string fs_get_cache_directory() {
     std::string cache_directory = "";
     auto ensure_trailing_slash = [](std::string p) {
diff --git a/common/common.h b/common/common.h
index 527f4be7d8..3294694109 100644
--- a/common/common.h
+++ b/common/common.h
@@ -904,6 +904,9 @@ std::string fs_path_to_utf8(const std::filesystem::path & path);
 std::string common_get_env(const std::string & name);
 void        common_set_env(const std::string & name, const std::string & value);
 
+// reads a path from the environment, an unset variable gives an empty path
+std::filesystem::path common_get_path_from_env(const std::string & name);
+
 //
 // Filesystem utils
 //
diff --git a/common/download.cpp b/common/download.cpp
index 4b28a708c8..2edd2a11ca 100644
--- a/common/download.cpp
+++ b/common/download.cpp
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ static int common_download_file_single_online(const std::string & url,
     static const int max_attempts        = 3;
     static const int retry_delay_seconds = 2;
 
-    const bool file_exists = std::filesystem::exists(path);
+    const bool file_exists = std::filesystem::exists(std::filesystem::u8path(path));
 
     if (file_exists && skip_etag) {
         LOG_DBG("%s: using cached file: %s\n", __func__, path.c_str());
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ int common_download_file_single(const std::string & url,
         return common_download_file_single_online(url, path, online_opts, skip_etag);
     }
 
-    if (!std::filesystem::exists(path)) {
+    if (!std::filesystem::exists(std::filesystem::u8path(path))) {
         LOG_ERR("%s: required file is not available in cache (offline mode): %s\n", __func__, path.c_str());
         return -1;
     }
diff --git a/common/hf-cache.cpp b/common/hf-cache.cpp
index 65c9722f33..5f37084d70 100644
--- a/common/hf-cache.cpp
+++ b/common/hf-cache.cpp
@@ -44,8 +44,7 @@ static fs::path get_cache_directory() {
             {HOME_DIR,                fs::path(".cache") / "huggingface" / "hub"}
         };
         for (const auto & entry : entries) {
-            if (auto * p = std::getenv(entry.var); p && *p) {
-                fs::path base(p);
+            if (fs::path base = common_get_path_from_env(entry.var); !base.empty()) {
                 return entry.path.empty() ? base : base / entry.path;
             }
         }
@@ -174,7 +173,8 @@ static bool is_valid_subpath(const fs::path & path, const fs::path & subpath) {
 }
 
 static void safe_write_file(const fs::path & path, const std::string & data) {
-    fs::path path_tmp = path.string() + ".tmp";
+    fs::path path_tmp = path;
+    path_tmp += ".tmp";
 
     if (path.has_parent_path()) {
         fs::create_directories(path.parent_path());
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ static void safe_write_file(const fs::path & path, const std::string & data) {
     }
     if (file.fail() || ec) {
         fs::remove(path_tmp, ec);
-        throw std::runtime_error("failed to write file: " + path.string());
+        throw std::runtime_error("failed to write file: " + fs_path_to_utf8(path));
     }
 }
 
@@ -241,6 +241,7 @@ static std::string get_repo_commit(const std::string & repo_id,
         fs::path refs_path = get_repo_path(repo_id) / "refs";
         std::string name;
         std::string commit;
+        fs::path name_path;
 
         for (const auto & branch : json["branches"]) {
             if (!branch.is_object() ||
@@ -251,24 +252,28 @@ static std::string get_repo_commit(const std::string & repo_id,
             std::string _name = branch["name"].get<std::string>();
             std::string _commit = branch["targetCommit"].get<std::string>();
 
-            if (!is_valid_subpath(refs_path, _name)) {
-                LOG_WRN("%s: skip invalid branch: %s\n", __func__, _name.c_str());
-                continue;
-            }
             if (!is_valid_commit(_commit)) {
                 LOG_WRN("%s: skip invalid commit: %s\n", __func__, _commit.c_str());
                 continue;
             }
+            const fs::path candidate = fs::u8path(_name);
+
+            if (!is_valid_subpath(refs_path, candidate)) {
+                LOG_WRN("%s: skip invalid branch: %s\n", __func__, _name.c_str());
+                continue;
+            }
 
             if (_name == "main") {
                 name = _name;
                 commit = _commit;
+                name_path = candidate;
                 break;
             }
 
             if (name.empty() || commit.empty()) {
                 name = _name;
                 commit = _commit;
+                name_path = candidate;
             }
         }
 
@@ -277,7 +282,7 @@ static std::string get_repo_commit(const std::string & repo_id,
             return {};
         }
 
-        safe_write_file(refs_path / name, commit);
+        safe_write_file(refs_path / name_path, commit);
         return commit;
 
     } catch (const common_json_error & e) {
@@ -326,7 +331,9 @@ hf_files get_repo_files(const std::string & repo_id,
             file.repo_id = repo_id;
             file.path = item["path"].get<std::string>();
 
-            if (!is_valid_subpath(commit_path, file.path)) {
+            const fs::path subpath = fs::u8path(file.path);
+
+            if (!is_valid_subpath(commit_path, subpath)) {
                 LOG_WRN("%s: skip invalid path: %s\n", __func__, file.path.c_str());
                 continue;
             }
@@ -346,12 +353,12 @@ hf_files get_repo_files(const std::string & repo_id,
 
             file.url = endpoint + repo_id + "/resolve/" + commit + "/" + file.path;
 
-            fs::path final_path = commit_path / file.path;
-            file.final_path = final_path.string();
+            fs::path final_path = commit_path / subpath;
+            file.final_path = fs_path_to_utf8(final_path);
 
             if (!file.oid.empty() && !fs::exists(final_path)) {
                 fs::path local_path = blobs_path / file.oid;
-                file.local_path = local_path.string();
+                file.local_path = fs_path_to_utf8(local_path);
             } else {
                 file.local_path = file.final_path;
             }
@@ -418,7 +425,7 @@ hf_files get_cached_files(const std::string & repo_id) {
         if (!fs::exists(snapshots_path)) {
             continue;
         }
-        std::string _repo_id = folder_name_to_repo(repo.path().filename().string());
+        std::string _repo_id = folder_name_to_repo(fs_path_to_utf8(repo.path().filename()));
 
         if (!is_valid_repo_id(_repo_id)) {
             continue;
@@ -441,8 +448,9 @@ hf_files get_cached_files(const std::string & repo_id) {
             if (!path.empty()) {
                 hf_file file;
                 file.repo_id = _repo_id;
-                file.path = path.generic_string();
-                file.local_path = entry.path().string();
+                const auto generic_path = path.generic_u8string();
+                file.path = std::string(generic_path.begin(), generic_path.end());
+                file.local_path = fs_path_to_utf8(entry.path());
                 file.final_path = file.local_path;
                 files.push_back(std::move(file));
             }
@@ -456,8 +464,8 @@ std::string finalize_file(const hf_file & file) {
     static std::atomic<bool> symlinks_disabled{false};
 
     std::error_code ec;
-    fs::path local_path(file.local_path);
-    fs::path final_path(file.final_path);
+    fs::path local_path = fs::u8path(file.local_path);
+    fs::path final_path = fs::u8path(file.final_path);
 
     if (local_path == final_path || fs::exists(final_path, ec)) {
         return file.final_path;
@@ -504,7 +512,7 @@ bool remove_cached_repo(const std::string & repo_id) {
     std::error_code ec;
     auto removed = fs::remove_all(repo_path, ec);
     if (ec) {
-        LOG_ERR("%s: failed to remove repo cache %s: %s\n", __func__, repo_path.string().c_str(), ec.message().c_str());
+        LOG_ERR("%s: failed to remove repo cache %s: %s\n", __func__, fs_path_to_utf8(repo_path).c_str(), ec.message().c_str());
         return false;
     }
     return removed > 0;