diff --git a/PyPDF2/_cmap.py b/PyPDF2/_cmap.py
index 36d12f476..595abce7f 100644
--- a/PyPDF2/_cmap.py
+++ b/PyPDF2/_cmap.py
@@ -42,7 +42,11 @@ def build_char_map(
         pass
     # I conside the space_code is available on one byte
     if isinstance(space_code, str):
-        sp = space_code.encode("charmap")[0]
+        try:  # one byte
+            sp = space_code.encode("charmap")[0]
+        except Exception:
+            sp = space_code.encode("utf-16-be")
+            sp = sp[0] + 256 * sp[1]
     else:
         sp = space_code
     sp_width = compute_space_width(ft, sp, space_width)
diff --git a/tests/test_workflows.py b/tests/test_workflows.py
index 3191928ea..71e6a0240 100644
--- a/tests/test_workflows.py
+++ b/tests/test_workflows.py
@@ -149,6 +149,8 @@ def test_rotate_45():
         (True, "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2201.00200.pdf", [0, 1, 5, 6]),
         (True, "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2201.00022.pdf", [0, 1, 5, 10]),
         (True, "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2201.00029.pdf", [0, 1, 6, 10]),
+        # #1145
+        (True, "https://github.com/py-pdf/PyPDF2/files/9174594/2017.pdf", [0]),
         # 6 instead of 5: as there is an issue in page 5 (missing objects)
         # and too complex to handle the warning without hiding real regressions
         (True, "https://arxiv.org/pdf/1601.03642.pdf", [0, 1, 5, 7]),