diff --git a/lib/addressable/uri.rb b/lib/addressable/uri.rb
index 9109256c..992ef16e 100644
--- a/lib/addressable/uri.rb
+++ b/lib/addressable/uri.rb
@@ -552,7 +552,7 @@ def self.normalize_component(component, character_class=
       rescue ArgumentError
         encoded = self.encode_component(unencoded)
       end
-      encoded.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8)
+      encoded.encode!(Encoding::UTF_8, invalid: :replace, replace: "")
       return encoded
     end
 
@@ -865,7 +865,9 @@ def normalized_scheme
         end
       end
       # All normalized values should be UTF-8
-      @normalized_scheme.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8) if @normalized_scheme
+      if @normalized_scheme && @normalized_scheme.encoding != Encoding::UTF_8
+        @normalized_scheme.encode!(Encoding::UTF_8, invalid: :replace, replace: "")
+      end
       @normalized_scheme
     end
 
@@ -920,7 +922,9 @@ def normalized_user
         end
       end
       # All normalized values should be UTF-8
-      @normalized_user.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8) if @normalized_user
+      if @normalized_user && @normalized_user.encoding != Encoding::UTF_8
+        @normalized_user.encode!(Encoding::UTF_8, invalid: :replace, replace: "")
+      end
       @normalized_user
     end
 
@@ -977,8 +981,8 @@ def normalized_password
         end
       end
       # All normalized values should be UTF-8
-      if @normalized_password
-        @normalized_password.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8)
+      if @normalized_password && @normalized_password.encoding != Encoding::UTF_8
+        @normalized_password.encode!(Encoding::UTF_8, invalid: :replace, replace: "")
       end
       @normalized_password
     end
@@ -1047,8 +1051,8 @@ def normalized_userinfo
         end
       end
       # All normalized values should be UTF-8
-      if @normalized_userinfo
-        @normalized_userinfo.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8)
+      if @normalized_userinfo && @normalized_userinfo.encoding != Encoding::UTF_8
+        @normalized_userinfo.encode!(Encoding::UTF_8, invalid: :replace, replace: "")
       end
       @normalized_userinfo
     end
@@ -1114,7 +1118,9 @@ def normalized_host
         end
       end
       # All normalized values should be UTF-8
-      @normalized_host.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8) if @normalized_host
+      if @normalized_host && @normalized_host.encoding != Encoding::UTF_8
+        @normalized_host.encode!(Encoding::UTF_8, invalid: :replace, replace: "")
+      end
       @normalized_host
     end
 
@@ -1232,8 +1238,8 @@ def normalized_authority
         authority
       end
       # All normalized values should be UTF-8
-      if @normalized_authority
-        @normalized_authority.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8)
+      if @normalized_authority && @normalized_authority.encoding != Encoding::UTF_8
+        @normalized_authority.encode!(Encoding::UTF_8, invalid: :replace, replace: "")
       end
       @normalized_authority
     end
@@ -1468,7 +1474,9 @@ def normalized_site
         site_string
       end
       # All normalized values should be UTF-8
-      @normalized_site.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8) if @normalized_site
+      if @normalized_site && @normalized_site.encoding != Encoding::UTF_8
+        @normalized_site.encode!(Encoding::UTF_8, invalid: :replace, replace: "")
+      end
       @normalized_site
     end
 
@@ -1531,7 +1539,9 @@ def normalized_path
         result
       end
       # All normalized values should be UTF-8
-      @normalized_path.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8) if @normalized_path
+      if @normalized_path && @normalized_path.encoding != Encoding::UTF_8
+         @normalized_path.encode!(Encoding::UTF_8, invalid: :replace, replace: "")
+      end
       @normalized_path
     end
 
@@ -1602,7 +1612,9 @@ def normalized_query(*flags)
         component == "" ? nil : component
       end
       # All normalized values should be UTF-8
-      @normalized_query.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8) if @normalized_query
+      if @normalized_query && @normalized_query.encoding != Encoding::UTF_8
+        @normalized_query.encode!(Encoding::UTF_8, invalid: :replace, replace: "")
+      end
       @normalized_query
     end
 
@@ -1796,8 +1808,8 @@ def normalized_fragment
         component == "" ? nil : component
       end
       # All normalized values should be UTF-8
-      if @normalized_fragment
-        @normalized_fragment.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8)
+      if @normalized_fragment && @normalized_fragment.encoding != Encoding::UTF_8
+        @normalized_fragment.encode!(Encoding::UTF_8, invalid: :replace, replace: "")
       end
       @normalized_fragment
     end
@@ -2325,7 +2337,7 @@ def to_s
         uri_string << self.path.to_s
         uri_string << "?#{self.query}" if self.query != nil
         uri_string << "##{self.fragment}" if self.fragment != nil
-        uri_string.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8)
+        uri_string.encode!(Encoding::UTF_8, invalid: :replace, replace: "")
         uri_string
       end
     end