diff --git a/crates/core/src/backend/ignore.rs b/crates/core/src/backend/ignore.rs
index 08e29f84..71c25ab2 100644
--- a/crates/core/src/backend/ignore.rs
+++ b/crates/core/src/backend/ignore.rs
@@ -444,7 +444,7 @@ fn map_entry(
     with_atime: bool,
     _ignore_devid: bool,
 ) -> IgnoreResult<ReadSourceEntry<OpenFile>> {
-    let name = entry.file_name();
+    let name = entry.file_name().as_encoded_bytes();
     let m = entry
         .metadata()
         .map_err(|err| IgnoreErrorKind::FailedToGetMetadata { source: err })?;
@@ -498,10 +498,12 @@ fn map_entry(
         Node::new_node(name, NodeType::Dir, meta)
     } else if m.is_symlink() {
         let path = entry.path();
-        let target = read_link(path).map_err(|err| IgnoreErrorKind::ErrorLink {
-            path: path.to_path_buf(),
-            source: err,
-        })?;
+        let target = read_link(path)
+            .map_err(|err| IgnoreErrorKind::ErrorLink {
+                path: path.to_path_buf(),
+                source: err,
+            })?
+            .as_encoded_bytes();
         let node_type = NodeType::from_link(&target);
         Node::new_node(name, node_type, meta)
     } else {
@@ -510,6 +512,7 @@ fn map_entry(
 
     let path = entry.into_path();
     let open = Some(OpenFile(path.clone()));
+    let path: UnixPathBuf = path.try_into().unwrap(); // TODO: Error handling
     Ok(ReadSourceEntry { path, node, open })
 }
 
diff --git a/crates/core/src/backend/local_destination.rs b/crates/core/src/backend/local_destination.rs
index 027c712a..28dd64db 100644
--- a/crates/core/src/backend/local_destination.rs
+++ b/crates/core/src/backend/local_destination.rs
@@ -103,6 +103,9 @@ pub enum LocalDestinationErrorKind {
         filename: PathBuf,
         source: std::io::Error,
     },
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    /// Non-UTF8 filename is not allowed: `{0:?}`
+    Utf8Error(std::str::Utf8Error),
 }
 
 pub(crate) type LocalDestinationResult<T> = Result<T, LocalDestinationErrorKind>;
@@ -202,7 +205,9 @@ impl LocalDestination {
         }
         #[cfg(windows)]
         {
-            let item = PathBuf::try_from(item.as_ref())?;
+            // only utf8 items are allowed on windows
+            let item = std::str::from_utf8(item.as_ref().as_bytes())
+                .map_err(LocalDestinationErrorKind::Utf8Error)?;
             Ok(self.path.join(item))
         }
     }
diff --git a/crates/core/src/backend/node.rs b/crates/core/src/backend/node.rs
index 0c211c33..71e1debc 100644
--- a/crates/core/src/backend/node.rs
+++ b/crates/core/src/backend/node.rs
@@ -337,25 +337,6 @@ pub fn last_modified_node(n1: &Node, n2: &Node) -> Ordering {
     n1.meta.mtime.cmp(&n2.meta.mtime)
 }
 
-// TODO: Should be probably called `_lossy`
-// TODO(Windows): This is not able to handle non-unicode filenames and
-// doesn't treat filenames which need and escape (like `\`, `"`, ...) correctly
-#[cfg(windows)]
-fn escape_filename(name: &OsStr) -> String {
-    name.to_string_lossy().to_string()
-}
-
-/// Unescape a filename
-///
-/// # Arguments
-///
-/// * `s` - The escaped filename
-#[cfg(windows)]
-fn unescape_filename(s: &str) -> Result<OsString, core::convert::Infallible> {
-    OsString::from_str(s)
-}
-
-#[cfg(not(windows))]
 /// Escape a filename
 ///
 /// # Arguments
@@ -413,7 +394,6 @@ fn escape_filename(name: &[u8]) -> String {
     s
 }
 
-#[cfg(not(windows))]
 /// Unescape a filename
 ///
 /// # Arguments