diff --git a/Lib/site.py b/Lib/site.py
index f1a6d9cf66fdc3..7eace190f5ab21 100644
--- a/Lib/site.py
+++ b/Lib/site.py
@@ -185,7 +185,9 @@ def addpackage(sitedir, name, known_paths):
         return
 
     try:
-        pth_content = pth_content.decode()
+        # Accept BOM markers in .pth files as we do in source files
+        # (Windows PowerShell 5.1 makes it hard to emit UTF-8 files without a BOM)
+        pth_content = pth_content.decode("utf-8-sig")
     except UnicodeDecodeError:
         # Fallback to locale encoding for backward compatibility.
         # We will deprecate this fallback in the future.