diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/git/blame_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/git/blame_spec.rb
index 8b041ac69b1..66c016d14b3 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/git/blame_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/git/blame_spec.rb
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ describe Gitlab::Git::Blame, seed_helper: true do
       expect(data.size).to eq(95)
       expect(data.first[:commit]).to be_kind_of(Gitlab::Git::Commit)
       expect(data.first[:line]).to eq("# Contribute to GitLab")
+      expect(data.first[:line]).to be_utf8
     end
   end
 
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ describe Gitlab::Git::Blame, seed_helper: true do
       expect(data.size).to eq(1)
       expect(data.first[:commit]).to be_kind_of(Gitlab::Git::Commit)
       expect(data.first[:line]).to eq("Ä ü")
+      expect(data.first[:line]).to be_utf8
     end
   end
 
@@ -61,6 +63,7 @@ describe Gitlab::Git::Blame, seed_helper: true do
       expect(data.size).to eq(1)
       expect(data.first[:commit]).to be_kind_of(Gitlab::Git::Commit)
       expect(data.first[:line]).to eq(" ")
+      expect(data.first[:line]).to be_utf8
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/git/branch_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/git/branch_spec.rb
index 9dba4397e79..d1d7ed1d02a 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/git/branch_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/git/branch_spec.rb
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ describe Gitlab::Git::Branch, seed_helper: true do
       expect(Gitlab::Git::Commit).to receive(:decorate)
         .with(hash_including(attributes)).and_call_original
 
-      expect(branch.dereferenced_target.message.encoding).to be(Encoding::UTF_8)
+      expect(branch.dereferenced_target.message).to be_utf8
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/git/diff_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/git/diff_spec.rb
index d50ccb0df30..d97e85364c2 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/git/diff_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/git/diff_spec.rb
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ EOT
         let(:raw_patch) { @raw_diff_hash[:diff].encode(Encoding::ASCII_8BIT) }
 
         it 'encodes diff patch to UTF-8' do
-          expect(diff.diff.encoding).to eq(Encoding::UTF_8)
+          expect(diff.diff).to be_utf8
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/git/repository_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/git/repository_spec.rb
index 464cb41a842..9e924c2541b 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/git/repository_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/git/repository_spec.rb
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ describe Gitlab::Git::Repository, seed_helper: true do
     end
 
     it 'returns UTF-8' do
-      expect(repository.root_ref.encoding).to eq(Encoding.find('UTF-8'))
+      expect(repository.root_ref).to be_utf8
     end
 
     it 'gets the branch name from GitalyClient' do
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ describe Gitlab::Git::Repository, seed_helper: true do
     end
 
     it 'returns UTF-8' do
-      expect(subject.first.encoding).to eq(Encoding.find('UTF-8'))
+      expect(subject.first).to be_utf8
     end
 
     it { is_expected.to include("master") }
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ describe Gitlab::Git::Repository, seed_helper: true do
     end
 
     it 'returns UTF-8' do
-      expect(subject.first.encoding).to eq(Encoding.find('UTF-8'))
+      expect(subject.first).to be_utf8
     end
 
     describe '#last' do
@@ -1259,10 +1259,9 @@ describe Gitlab::Git::Repository, seed_helper: true do
     it 'returns a Branch with UTF-8 fields' do
       branches = @repo.local_branches.to_a
       expect(branches.size).to be > 0
-      utf_8 = Encoding.find('utf-8')
       branches.each do |branch|
-        expect(branch.name.encoding).to eq(utf_8)
-        expect(branch.target.encoding).to eq(utf_8) unless branch.target.nil?
+        expect(branch.name).to be_utf8
+        expect(branch.target).to be_utf8 unless branch.target.nil?
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/support/matchers/be_utf8.rb b/spec/support/matchers/be_utf8.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ea806352422
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/support/matchers/be_utf8.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+RSpec::Matchers.define :be_utf8 do |_|
+  match do |actual|
+    actual.is_a?(String) && actual.encoding == Encoding.find('UTF-8')
+  end
+
+  description do
+    "be a String with encoding UTF-8"
+  end
+end