diff --git a/agent/whois_domain_agent.py b/agent/whois_domain_agent.py
index 4902102..4a28ca4 100644
--- a/agent/whois_domain_agent.py
+++ b/agent/whois_domain_agent.py
@@ -108,8 +108,14 @@ def _fetch_whois(self, domain_name: str) -> whois.parser.WhoisCom | None:
         Args:
             domain_name: Target domain to lookup.
         """
-        logger.info("staring a new scan for %s .", domain_name)
-        whois_output = whois.whois(domain_name)
+        logger.info("Starting a new scan for %s .", domain_name)
+        try:
+            whois_output = whois.whois(domain_name)
+        except UnicodeError as e:
+            logger.error(
+                "Unicode error when fetching whois for %s : %s", domain_name, e
+            )
+            return None
         logger.info("done scanning %s .", domain_name)
         return whois_output
 
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 710593d..637fe75 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -23,6 +23,16 @@ def scan_message_not_valid() -> message.Message:
     return message.Message.from_data(selector, data=msg_data)
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def scan_message_bad_character() -> message.Message:
+    """Creates a dummy message with invalid domain name to test error handling."""
+    selector = "v3.asset.domain_name"
+    msg_data = {
+        "name": "meda�llia.com",
+    }
+    return message.Message.from_data(selector, data=msg_data)
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
 def scan_message() -> message.Message:
     """Creates a dummy message of type v3.asset.domain_name to be used by the agent for testing purposes."""
diff --git a/tests/whois_domain_agent_test.py b/tests/whois_domain_agent_test.py
index 66f425d..7c974b6 100644
--- a/tests/whois_domain_agent_test.py
+++ b/tests/whois_domain_agent_test.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import datetime
 from typing import List, Any
 
+import pytest
 from ostorlab.agent.message import message
 from pytest_mock import plugin
 
@@ -448,3 +449,22 @@ def testAgentWhois_whenConnectionError_shouldRetry(
     test_agent.process(scan_message)
 
     assert mock_whois.call_count == 3
+
+
+def testAgentWhois_whenWhoisUnicodeError_doesNotCrash(
+    scan_message_bad_character: message.Message,
+    test_agent: whois_domain_agent.AgentWhoisDomain,
+    agent_persist_mock: Any,
+    mocker: plugin.MockerFixture,
+    agent_mock: List[message.Message],
+    caplog: pytest.LogCaptureFixture,
+) -> None:
+    """The agent should not crash when UnicodeError occurs."""
+    del agent_persist_mock
+    mocker.patch("time.sleep")
+
+    test_agent.start()
+    test_agent.process(scan_message_bad_character)
+
+    assert "Unicode error when fetching whois for" in caplog.text
+    assert len(agent_mock) == 0