diff --git a/plugins/module_utils/netbox_utils.py b/plugins/module_utils/netbox_utils.py
index 134fefd37..e80b7a497 100644
--- a/plugins/module_utils/netbox_utils.py
+++ b/plugins/module_utils/netbox_utils.py
@@ -1162,8 +1162,10 @@ def _to_slug(self, value):
             return value
         else:
             removed_chars = re.sub(r"[^\-\.\w\s]", "", value)
+            removed_chars = removed_chars.encode('ascii', errors="ignore").decode()
+            removed_chars = removed_chars.strip()
             convert_chars = re.sub(r"[\-\.\s]+", "-", removed_chars)
-            return convert_chars.strip().lower()
+            return convert_chars.lower()
 
     def _normalize_data(self, data):
         """
diff --git a/tests/unit/module_utils/test_data/normalize_data/data.json b/tests/unit/module_utils/test_data/normalize_data/data.json
index be7f861d2..f6d2438b0 100644
--- a/tests/unit/module_utils/test_data/normalize_data/data.json
+++ b/tests/unit/module_utils/test_data/normalize_data/data.json
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@
     },
     {
         "before": {
-            "slug": "Test to_slug"
+            "slug": "Test to_slug© ⅛ äüöß 👀"
         },
         "after": {
             "slug": "test-to_slug"
@@ -345,4 +345,4 @@
             "mac_address": "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF"
         }
     }
-]
\ No newline at end of file
+]