diff --git a/glue/core/data_factories/astropy_table.py b/glue/core/data_factories/astropy_table.py
index 81874bae2..2f0a2a692 100644
--- a/glue/core/data_factories/astropy_table.py
+++ b/glue/core/data_factories/astropy_table.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def astropy_table_read(*args, **kwargs):
             pass
 
     # If the above didn't work, attempt to read with no specified format
-    return Table.read(*args, encoding=encoding, **kwargs)
+    return Table.read(*args, **kwargs)
 
 
 @data_factory(label="Catalog (astropy.table parser)",