diff --git a/src/poetry/core/factory.py b/src/poetry/core/factory.py
index 04cb5873d..b837e4278 100644
--- a/src/poetry/core/factory.py
+++ b/src/poetry/core/factory.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 from typing import Union
 from warnings import warn
 
+from poetry.core.utils.helpers import combine_unicode
 from poetry.core.utils.helpers import readme_content_type
 
 
@@ -76,10 +77,10 @@ def configure_package(
         package.root_dir = root
 
         for author in config["authors"]:
-            package.authors.append(author)
+            package.authors.append(combine_unicode(author))
 
         for maintainer in config.get("maintainers", []):
-            package.maintainers.append(maintainer)
+            package.maintainers.append(combine_unicode(maintainer))
 
         package.description = config.get("description", "")
         package.homepage = config.get("homepage")
diff --git a/src/poetry/core/utils/helpers.py b/src/poetry/core/utils/helpers.py
index af2f9bbda..769f663ec 100644
--- a/src/poetry/core/utils/helpers.py
+++ b/src/poetry/core/utils/helpers.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import shutil
 import stat
 import tempfile
+import unicodedata
 
 from collections.abc import Mapping
 from contextlib import contextmanager
@@ -20,6 +21,10 @@
 _canonicalize_regex = re.compile(r"[-_]+")
 
 
+def combine_unicode(string: str) -> str:
+    return unicodedata.normalize("NFC", string)
+
+
 def canonicalize_name(name: str) -> str:
     return _canonicalize_regex.sub("-", name).lower()
 
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/sample_project/pyproject.toml b/tests/fixtures/sample_project/pyproject.toml
index b2911d645..a99e6c19d 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/sample_project/pyproject.toml
+++ b/tests/fixtures/sample_project/pyproject.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ name = "my-package"
 version = "1.2.3"
 description = "Some description."
 authors = [
-    "Sébastien Eustace <sebastien@eustace.io>"
+    "Sébastien Eustace <sebastien@eustace.io>"
 ]
 license = "MIT"
 
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_helpers.py b/tests/utils/test_helpers.py
index 662a618ef..02d8dc1d6 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/utils/test_helpers.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import pytest
 
 from poetry.core.utils.helpers import canonicalize_name
+from poetry.core.utils.helpers import combine_unicode
 from poetry.core.utils.helpers import parse_requires
 from poetry.core.utils.helpers import readme_content_type
 from poetry.core.utils.helpers import temporary_directory
@@ -76,6 +77,15 @@ def test_utils_helpers_canonical_names(raw: str):
     assert canonicalize_name(raw) == "a-b-c"
 
 
+def test_utils_helpers_combine_unicode():
+    combined_expected = "é"
+    decomposed = "é"
+    assert combined_expected != decomposed
+
+    combined = combine_unicode(decomposed)
+    assert combined == combined_expected
+
+
 def test_utils_helpers_temporary_directory_readonly_file():
     with temporary_directory() as temp_dir:
         readonly_filename = os.path.join(temp_dir, "file.txt")