diff --git a/jrnl/Journal.py b/jrnl/Journal.py
index 2dfc1f34..22f49c35 100644
--- a/jrnl/Journal.py
+++ b/jrnl/Journal.py
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ class Journal:
             return f.read()
 
     def _store(self, filename, text):
-        with open(filename, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        with open(filename, "wb") as f:
             f.write(text)
 
     def _parse(self, journal_txt):
diff --git a/jrnl/encryption/BasePasswordEncryption.py b/jrnl/encryption/BasePasswordEncryption.py
index 34a04542..af0ba88d 100644
--- a/jrnl/encryption/BasePasswordEncryption.py
+++ b/jrnl/encryption/BasePasswordEncryption.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class BasePasswordEncryption(BaseEncryption):
     def password(self, value: str) -> None:
         self._password = value
 
-    def encrypt(self, text: str) -> str:
+    def encrypt(self, text: str) -> bytes:
         if not self.password:
             self.password = create_password(self._journal_name)
         return self._encrypt(text)
diff --git a/jrnl/encryption/Jrnlv2Encryption.py b/jrnl/encryption/Jrnlv2Encryption.py
index 8baffda5..f66a4f16 100644
--- a/jrnl/encryption/Jrnlv2Encryption.py
+++ b/jrnl/encryption/Jrnlv2Encryption.py
@@ -40,12 +40,8 @@ class Jrnlv2Encryption(BasePasswordEncryption):
         key = kdf.derive(password)
         self._key = base64.urlsafe_b64encode(key)
 
-    def _encrypt(self, text: str) -> str:
-        return (
-            Fernet(self._key)
-            .encrypt(text.encode(self._encoding))
-            .decode(self._encoding)
-        )
+    def _encrypt(self, text: str) -> bytes:
+        return Fernet(self._key).encrypt(text.encode(self._encoding))
 
     def _decrypt(self, text: bytes) -> str | None:
         try:
diff --git a/jrnl/encryption/NoEncryption.py b/jrnl/encryption/NoEncryption.py
index f8e0dd3d..13edcec3 100644
--- a/jrnl/encryption/NoEncryption.py
+++ b/jrnl/encryption/NoEncryption.py
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ class NoEncryption(BaseEncryption):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
-    def _encrypt(self, text: str) -> str:
-        return text
+    def _encrypt(self, text: str) -> bytes:
+        return text.encode(self._encoding)
 
     def _decrypt(self, text: bytes) -> str:
         return text.decode(self._encoding)