diff --git a/checkov/ansible/utils.py b/checkov/ansible/utils.py
index 67018ac2e3b..de3b0e5dff9 100644
--- a/checkov/ansible/utils.py
+++ b/checkov/ansible/utils.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 from checkov.ansible.graph_builder.graph_components.resource_types import ResourceType
 from checkov.common.parsers.yaml.parser import parse
 from checkov.common.util.consts import START_LINE, END_LINE
+from checkov.common.util.file_utils import read_file_with_any_encoding
 from checkov.common.util.suppression import collect_suppressions_for_context
 
 TASK_NAME_PATTERN = re.compile(r"^\s*-\s+name:\s+", re.MULTILINE)
@@ -76,7 +77,7 @@ def get_relevant_file_content(file_path: str | Path) -> str | None:
     if not str(file_path).endswith((".yaml", ".yml")):
         return None
 
-    content = Path(file_path).read_text()
+    content = read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path=file_path)
     match_task_name = re.search(TASK_NAME_PATTERN, content)
     if match_task_name:
         # there are more files, which belong to an ansible playbook,
diff --git a/checkov/argo_workflows/runner.py b/checkov/argo_workflows/runner.py
index 7ff99b0d9b7..55c8be04ce0 100644
--- a/checkov/argo_workflows/runner.py
+++ b/checkov/argo_workflows/runner.py
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import re
-from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any
 
 from checkov.common.images.image_referencer import ImageReferencer, Image
 from checkov.common.output.report import CheckType
+from checkov.common.util.file_utils import read_file_with_any_encoding
 from checkov.yaml_doc.runner import Runner as YamlRunner
 
 # Import of the checks registry for a specific resource type
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def _get_workflow_file_content(self, file_path: str) -> str | None:
         if not file_path.endswith((".yaml", ".yml")):
             return None
 
-        content = Path(file_path).read_text()
+        content = read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path=file_path)
         match_api = re.search(API_VERSION_PATTERN, content)
         if match_api:
             match_kind = re.search(KIND_PATTERN, content)
diff --git a/checkov/arm/parser/parser.py b/checkov/arm/parser/parser.py
index 6adac088cef..04c2858dc90 100644
--- a/checkov/arm/parser/parser.py
+++ b/checkov/arm/parser/parser.py
@@ -4,13 +4,12 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any
 
-from charset_normalizer import from_path
 from yaml.scanner import ScannerError
 from yaml import YAMLError
 
 from checkov.common.parsers.json import parse as json_parse
 from checkov.common.parsers.yaml import loader
-
+from checkov.common.util.file_utils import read_file_with_any_encoding
 
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -57,13 +56,7 @@ def load(filename: Path | str) -> tuple[dict[str, Any], list[tuple[int, str]]]:
     Load the given JSON/YAML file
     """
 
-    file_path = filename if isinstance(filename, Path) else Path(filename)
-
-    try:
-        content = file_path.read_text()
-    except UnicodeDecodeError:
-        logging.debug(f"Encoding for file {file_path} is not UTF-8, trying to detect it")
-        content = str(from_path(file_path).best())
+    content = read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path=filename)
 
     if not all(key in content for key in ("$schema", "contentVersion")):
         return {}, []
diff --git a/checkov/bicep/parser.py b/checkov/bicep/parser.py
index c075b914fd3..a0b8a4664bb 100644
--- a/checkov/bicep/parser.py
+++ b/checkov/bicep/parser.py
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 
 from pycep import BicepParser
 
+from checkov.common.util.file_utils import read_file_with_any_encoding
+
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from pycep.typing import BicepJson
 
@@ -18,7 +20,7 @@ def __init__(self) -> None:
 
     def parse(self, file_path: Path) -> tuple[BicepJson, list[tuple[int, str]]] | tuple[None, None]:
         try:
-            content = file_path.read_text()
+            content = read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path=file_path)
             template = self.bicep_parser.parse(text=content)
         except Exception:
             logging.debug(f"[bicep] Couldn't parse {file_path}", exc_info=True)
diff --git a/checkov/cloudformation/parser/cfn_yaml.py b/checkov/cloudformation/parser/cfn_yaml.py
index 04a2181d84f..b9da4411495 100644
--- a/checkov/cloudformation/parser/cfn_yaml.py
+++ b/checkov/cloudformation/parser/cfn_yaml.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 from checkov.common.parsers.json.decoder import SimpleDecoder
 from checkov.common.parsers.node import StrNode, DictNode, ListNode
 from checkov.common.util.consts import MAX_IAC_FILE_SIZE
+from checkov.common.util.file_utils import read_file_with_any_encoding
 
 try:
     from yaml.cyaml import CParser as Parser  # type:ignore[attr-defined]
@@ -253,11 +254,7 @@ def load(filename: str | Path, content_type: ContentType) -> tuple[dict[str, Any
             LOGGER.error(f"Encoding for file {file_path} could not be detected or read. Please try encoding the file as UTF-8.")
             raise e
     else:
-        try:
-            content = file_path.read_text()
-        except UnicodeDecodeError:
-            LOGGER.info(f"Encoding for file {file_path} is not UTF-8, trying to detect it")
-            content = str(from_path(file_path).best())
+        content = read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path=file_path)
 
     if content_type == ContentType.CFN and "Resources" not in content:
         logging.debug(f'File {file_path} is expected to be a CFN template but has no Resources attribute')
diff --git a/checkov/common/parsers/json/__init__.py b/checkov/common/parsers/json/__init__.py
index 0f67001ba9c..c519587e529 100644
--- a/checkov/common/parsers/json/__init__.py
+++ b/checkov/common/parsers/json/__init__.py
@@ -9,10 +9,9 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any
 
-from charset_normalizer import from_path
-
 from checkov.common.parsers.json.decoder import Decoder
 from checkov.common.parsers.json.errors import DecodeError
+from checkov.common.util.file_utils import read_file_with_any_encoding
 
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -24,13 +23,8 @@ def load(
     Load the given JSON file
     """
 
-    try:
-        if not content:
-            file_path = filename if isinstance(filename, Path) else Path(filename)
-            content = file_path.read_text()
-    except UnicodeDecodeError:
-        LOGGER.info(f"Encoding for file {filename} is not UTF-8, trying to detect it")
-        content = str(from_path(filename).best())  # type:ignore[arg-type]  # somehow str is not recognized as PathLike
+    if not content:
+        content = read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path=filename)
 
     file_lines = [(idx + 1, line) for idx, line in enumerate(content.splitlines(keepends=True))]
 
diff --git a/checkov/common/parsers/yaml/loader.py b/checkov/common/parsers/yaml/loader.py
index 468f4aa2b36..ef8e4fcb728 100644
--- a/checkov/common/parsers/yaml/loader.py
+++ b/checkov/common/parsers/yaml/loader.py
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 import yaml
 from yaml.loader import SafeLoader
 
+from checkov.common.util.file_utils import read_file_with_any_encoding
+
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from yaml import MappingNode
 
@@ -31,8 +33,7 @@ def load(filename: str | Path, content: str | None = None) -> tuple[list[dict[st
     """
 
     if not content:
-        file_path = filename if isinstance(filename, Path) else Path(filename)
-        content = file_path.read_text()
+        content = read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path=filename)
 
     file_lines = [(idx + 1, line) for idx, line in enumerate(content.splitlines(keepends=True))]
 
diff --git a/checkov/common/util/file_utils.py b/checkov/common/util/file_utils.py
index adc98027645..81d5ca17231 100644
--- a/checkov/common/util/file_utils.py
+++ b/checkov/common/util/file_utils.py
@@ -1,12 +1,18 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
 import os.path
 import tarfile
 import base64
 import gzip
 import io
 import logging
-
+from pathlib import Path
 from zipfile import ZipFile
 
+from charset_normalizer import from_path
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
 
 def convert_to_unix_path(path: str) -> str:
     return path.replace('\\', '/')
@@ -89,3 +95,17 @@ def get_file_size_safe(file_path: str) -> int:
             extra={"file_path": file_path}
         )
         return -1
+
+
+def read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path: str | Path) -> str:
+    """Read the file with the system encoding and then try to detect it"""
+
+    file_path = file_path if isinstance(file_path, Path) else Path(file_path)
+
+    try:
+        content = file_path.read_text()
+    except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        logger.info(f"Encoding for file {file_path} is not UTF-8, trying to detect it")
+        content = str(from_path(file_path).best())
+
+    return content
diff --git a/checkov/github_actions/utils.py b/checkov/github_actions/utils.py
index b452385c3f5..84c871f9422 100644
--- a/checkov/github_actions/utils.py
+++ b/checkov/github_actions/utils.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 from checkov.common.parsers.yaml.loader import SafeLineLoaderGhaSchema
 from checkov.common.parsers.yaml.parser import parse
+from checkov.common.util.file_utils import read_file_with_any_encoding
 from checkov.common.util.type_forcers import force_dict
 from checkov.github_actions.graph_builder.graph_components.resource_types import ResourceType
 from checkov.github_actions.schemas import gha_schema, gha_workflow
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ def parse_file(
 
     if is_workflow_file(file_path):
         if not file_content:
-            file_content = file_path.read_text()
+            file_content = read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path=file_path)
 
         entity_schema = parse(filename=str(f), file_content=file_content)
 
diff --git a/checkov/kubernetes/parser/k8_json.py b/checkov/kubernetes/parser/k8_json.py
index 6ba87c07220..d20fa871e2e 100644
--- a/checkov/kubernetes/parser/k8_json.py
+++ b/checkov/kubernetes/parser/k8_json.py
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
 from typing import Tuple, Dict, Any, List, TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import yaml
-from charset_normalizer import from_path
 from yaml.loader import SafeLoader
 
+from checkov.common.util.file_utils import read_file_with_any_encoding
+
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from yaml import MappingNode
 
@@ -38,13 +39,7 @@ def load(filename: Path) -> Tuple[List[Dict[str, Any]], List[Tuple[int, str]]]:
     Load the given JSON file
     """
 
-    file_path = filename if isinstance(filename, Path) else Path(filename)
-
-    try:
-        content = file_path.read_text()
-    except UnicodeDecodeError:
-        logger.debug(f"Encoding for file {file_path} is not UTF-8, trying to detect it")
-        content = str(from_path(file_path).best())
+    content = read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path=filename)
 
     if not all(key in content for key in ("apiVersion", "kind")):
         return [{}], []
diff --git a/checkov/kubernetes/parser/k8_yaml.py b/checkov/kubernetes/parser/k8_yaml.py
index 00a66fe12d4..c80e4e195d8 100644
--- a/checkov/kubernetes/parser/k8_yaml.py
+++ b/checkov/kubernetes/parser/k8_yaml.py
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
 from typing import List, Dict, Any, Tuple, TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import yaml
-from charset_normalizer import from_path
 from yaml.loader import SafeLoader
 
+from checkov.common.util.file_utils import read_file_with_any_encoding
+
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from yaml import MappingNode
 
@@ -34,13 +35,7 @@ def load(filename: Path) -> Tuple[List[Dict[str, Any]], List[Tuple[int, str]]]:
     Load the given YAML file
     """
 
-    file_path = filename if isinstance(filename, Path) else Path(filename)
-
-    try:
-        content = file_path.read_text()
-    except UnicodeDecodeError:
-        logging.debug(f"Encoding for file {file_path} is not UTF-8, trying to detect it")
-        content = str(from_path(file_path).best())
+    content = read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path=filename)
 
     if not all(key in content for key in ("apiVersion", "kind")):
         return [{}], []
diff --git a/checkov/openapi/runner.py b/checkov/openapi/runner.py
index 3a50c09167d..880c49bee2b 100644
--- a/checkov/openapi/runner.py
+++ b/checkov/openapi/runner.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 from checkov.common.checks.base_check_registry import BaseCheckRegistry
 from checkov.common.bridgecrew.check_type import CheckType
+from checkov.common.util.file_utils import read_file_with_any_encoding
 from checkov.yaml_doc.runner import Runner as YamlRunner
 from checkov.json_doc.runner import Runner as JsonRunner
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -96,8 +97,7 @@ def get_resource(self, file_path: str, key: str, supported_entities: Iterable[st
         return ",".join(supported_entities)
 
     def load_file(self, filename: str | Path) -> str:
-        file_path = filename if isinstance(filename, Path) else Path(filename)
-        content = file_path.read_text()
+        content = read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path=filename)
         return content
 
     def pre_validate_file(self, file_content: str) -> bool:
diff --git a/checkov/terraform_json/parser.py b/checkov/terraform_json/parser.py
index 9ca05f2b11b..44dda3a6ac2 100644
--- a/checkov/terraform_json/parser.py
+++ b/checkov/terraform_json/parser.py
@@ -5,13 +5,13 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any
 
-from charset_normalizer import from_path
 from yaml.scanner import ScannerError
 from yaml import YAMLError
 
 from checkov.common.parsers.json import parse as json_parse
 from checkov.common.parsers.yaml import loader
 from checkov.common.util.consts import LINE_FIELD_NAMES
+from checkov.common.util.file_utils import read_file_with_any_encoding
 from checkov.terraform.graph_builder.graph_components.block_types import BlockType
 
 COMMENT_FIELD_NAME = "//"
@@ -61,11 +61,7 @@ def parse(file_path: Path) -> tuple[dict[str, Any], list[tuple[int, str]]] | tup
 def loads(file_path: Path) -> tuple[dict[str, Any], list[tuple[int, str]]]:
     """Loads the given JSON file with line numbers"""
 
-    try:
-        content = file_path.read_text()
-    except UnicodeDecodeError:
-        logging.debug(f"Encoding for file {file_path} is not UTF-8, trying to detect it")
-        content = str(from_path(file_path).best())
+    content = read_file_with_any_encoding(file_path=file_path)
 
     if not all(key in content for key in ("resource", "provider")):
         return {}, []
diff --git a/tests/ansible/examples/k8s_utf16.yaml b/tests/ansible/examples/k8s_utf16.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..389581aacee
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/ansible/examples/k8s_utf16.yaml differ
diff --git a/tests/ansible/test_runner.py b/tests/ansible/test_runner.py
index 85868bc1304..5e0a387c0db 100644
--- a/tests/ansible/test_runner.py
+++ b/tests/ansible/test_runner.py
@@ -392,3 +392,19 @@ def test_get_resource_without_name(graph_connector):
 
     # then
     assert new_key == "tasks.amazon.aws.ec2_instance.unknown"
+
+
+def test_runner_process_utf16_file():
+    # given
+    test_file = EXAMPLES_DIR / "k8s_utf16.yaml"
+
+    # when
+    report = Runner().run(root_folder="", files=[str(test_file)])
+
+    # then
+    summary = report.get_summary()
+
+    assert summary["passed"] == 0
+    assert summary["failed"] == 0
+    assert summary["skipped"] == 0
+    assert summary["parsing_errors"] == 0