diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cbcdbbc..0176dcf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -62,8 +62,11 @@ Prefer `AioKV` in new code.
 ## Durability
 
 Writes are **atomic**: data is written to a temp file in the same directory and
-`os.replace()`d over the target (atomic on POSIX). A crash mid-write leaves the
-previous good file intact, and a reader never observes a partial file. A single
+`os.replace()`d over the target (atomic on POSIX). A **process** crash mid-write leaves
+the previous good file intact, and a reader never observes a partial file. (This is
+process-crash safety, not power-loss durability — there's no `fsync`, so an OS/power
+failure could still lose the last write; fine for reconstructible single-process state.)
+A single
 `asyncio.Lock` guards every read and write, so concurrent operations on one instance
 are consistent and no update is lost. All blocking filesystem calls run via
 `asyncio.to_thread`, so nothing stalls the event loop.
diff --git a/src/aiokv/aiokv.py b/src/aiokv/aiokv.py
index 522f463..061d3ea 100644
--- a/src/aiokv/aiokv.py
+++ b/src/aiokv/aiokv.py
@@ -82,11 +82,17 @@ class AioKV:
             return False
 
     async def clear(self) -> bool:
-        """remove the backing file entirely; returns True on success, False on error"""
+        """remove the backing file entirely; returns True on success, False on error
+
+        a file already absent (or removed concurrently between the check and the remove)
+        is success — the goal state, no file, is reached.
+        """
         try:
             async with self.lock:
-                if await asyncio.to_thread(os.path.exists, self.file):
+                try:
                     await asyncio.to_thread(os.remove, self.file)
+                except FileNotFoundError:
+                    pass
             return True
         except Exception:
             log.exception("aiokv.clear() failed")
@@ -107,7 +113,7 @@ class AioKV:
         """
         if not await asyncio.to_thread(os.path.exists, self.file):
             return {}
-        async with aiofiles.open(self.file, mode="r") as f:
+        async with aiofiles.open(self.file, mode="r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
             data = await f.read()
         if not data:
             return {}
@@ -120,7 +126,10 @@ class AioKV:
         """write the store atomically: temp file in the same dir, then os.replace
 
         os.replace is atomic on POSIX, so a reader never sees a partial file and a
-        crash mid-write leaves the previous good file intact.
+        process crash mid-write leaves the previous good file intact. note this is
+        process-crash safety, NOT power-loss durability — there is no fsync of the temp
+        file or the directory, so an OS/power failure could still lose the most recent
+        write (acceptable here: this is reconstructible single-process state, not a db).
         """
         directory = os.path.dirname(self.file) or "."
         await asyncio.to_thread(os.makedirs, directory, exist_ok=True)
@@ -128,7 +137,7 @@ class AioKV:
         payload = json.dumps(cache)
         tmp = f"{self.file}.{os.getpid()}.tmp"
         try:
-            async with aiofiles.open(tmp, mode="w") as f:
+            async with aiofiles.open(tmp, mode="w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
                 await f.write(payload)
             await asyncio.to_thread(os.replace, tmp, self.file)
         except Exception: