diff --git a/dockerfiles/rapids.Dockerfile b/dockerfiles/rapids.Dockerfile
index 38ee818..8a27918 100644
--- a/dockerfiles/rapids.Dockerfile
+++ b/dockerfiles/rapids.Dockerfile
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ if [[ "$USE_FISH_SHELL" == "YES" ]]; then \
 fi' \
  && apt update \
  && apt install --no-install-recommends -y \
-    jq ed git vim nano sudo curl wget entr \
+    jq ed git vim nano sudo curl wget entr less \
     # CMake dependencies
     curl libssl-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev zlib1g-dev \
     # Need tzdata for the pyarrow<->ORC tests
diff --git a/etc/rapids/.bashrc b/etc/rapids/.bashrc
index 1a8a698..9c3e269 100644
--- a/etc/rapids/.bashrc
+++ b/etc/rapids/.bashrc
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ shopt -s checkwinsize
 # make less more friendly for non-text input files, see lesspipe(1)
 [ -x /usr/bin/lesspipe ] && eval "$(SHELL=/bin/sh lesspipe)"
 
+# Support UTF-8 characters in less
+export LESSCHARSET='utf-8'
+
 # set variable identifying the chroot you work in (used in the prompt below)
 if [ -z "$debian_chroot" ] && [ -r /etc/debian_chroot ]; then
     debian_chroot=$(cat /etc/debian_chroot)