diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/test_tethys_cli/test_db_commands.py b/tests/unit_tests/test_tethys_cli/test_db_commands.py
index 61ca543e5..d95dfaf3c 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/test_tethys_cli/test_db_commands.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/test_tethys_cli/test_db_commands.py
@@ -198,6 +198,29 @@ def test_db_command_init(self):
             **kwargs,
         )
 
+    @mock.patch("tethys_cli.db_commands.sys.platform", "win32")
+    def test_db_command_init_windows(self):
+        mock_args = mock.MagicMock()
+        mock_args.command = "init"
+        db_command(mock_args)
+        kwargs = self._get_kwargs(remove=["db_dir"])
+        self.mock_run_process.assert_called_with(
+            [
+                "initdb",
+                "-U",
+                "postgres",
+                "-D",
+                "foo/data",
+                "--encoding",
+                "UTF8",
+                "--locale",
+                "C",
+            ],
+            'Initializing Postgresql database server in "foo/data"...',
+            "Could not initialize the Postgresql database.",
+            **kwargs,
+        )
+
     @mock.patch("tethys_cli.db_commands.write_error")
     @mock.patch("tethys_cli.db_commands.create_db_user")
     def test_db_command_create_error_code_without_exit(
@@ -296,6 +319,8 @@ def test_db_command_create_db_user(self):
             "postgres",
             "-E",
             "utf-8",
+            "--template",
+            "template0",
             "-p",
             self.options["port"],
             "-O",
diff --git a/tethys_cli/db_commands.py b/tethys_cli/db_commands.py
index ae1fdd0cf..2600935f3 100644
--- a/tethys_cli/db_commands.py
+++ b/tethys_cli/db_commands.py
@@ -156,6 +156,8 @@ def init_db_server(db_dir=None, **kwargs):
     msg = f'Initializing Postgresql database server in "{db_dir}/data"...'
     err_msg = "Could not initialize the Postgresql database."
     args = ["initdb", "-U", "postgres", "-D", f"{db_dir}/data"]
+    if sys.platform == "win32":
+        args.extend(["--encoding", "UTF8", "--locale", "C"])
     return _run_process(args, msg, err_msg, **kwargs)
 
 
@@ -316,6 +318,8 @@ def create_db_user(
         "postgres",
         "-E",
         "utf-8",
+        "--template",
+        "template0",
         "-p",
         f"{port}",
         "-O",