diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
index 0e7709f2..f0f6d88c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
@@ -188,6 +188,23 @@ jobs:
       with:
         version: 1.1.385
 
+  ydiff:
+    name: Test compatibility with the latest version of ydiff
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+    - name: Set up Python 3.12
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+      with:
+        python-version: 3.12
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      run: python .github/workflows/install_deps.py
+    - name: Update ydiff
+      run: python -m pip install -U ydiff
+    - name: Run tests
+      run: python -m pytest tests/test_ctl.py -v
+
   docs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
diff --git a/patroni/ctl.py b/patroni/ctl.py
index 71c1a39d..b55cfd4d 100644
--- a/patroni/ctl.py
+++ b/patroni/ctl.py
@@ -1896,12 +1896,13 @@ def show_diff(before_editing: str, after_editing: str) -> None:
     unified_diff = difflib.unified_diff(listify(before_editing), listify(after_editing))
 
     if sys.stdout.isatty():
-        buf = io.StringIO()
+        buf = io.BytesIO()
         for line in unified_diff:
-            buf.write(str(line))
+            buf.write(line.encode('utf-8'))
         buf.seek(0)
 
         class opts:
+            theme = 'default'
             side_by_side = False
             width = 80
             tab_width = 8
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index a35d1865..5b3626b1 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -10,5 +10,5 @@ python-dateutil
 pysyncobj>=0.3.8
 cryptography>=1.4
 psutil>=2.0.0
-ydiff>=1.2.0
+ydiff>=1.2.0,<1.5,!=1.4.0,!=1.4.1
 python-json-logger>=2.0.2
diff --git a/tests/test_ctl.py b/tests/test_ctl.py
index 6435e775..11656d09 100644
--- a/tests/test_ctl.py
+++ b/tests/test_ctl.py
@@ -689,6 +689,17 @@ class TestCtl(unittest.TestCase):
         show_diff(b"foo:\n  bar: \xc3\xb6\xc3\xb6\n".decode('utf-8'),
                   b"foo:\n  bar: \xc3\xbc\xc3\xbc\n".decode('utf-8'))
 
+    @patch('subprocess.Popen')
+    @patch('os.environ.get', Mock(return_value='cat'))
+    @patch('sys.stdout.isatty', Mock(return_value=True))
+    @patch('shutil.which', Mock(return_value='cat'))
+    def test_show_diff_pager(self, mock_popen):
+        show_diff("foo:\n  bar: 1\n", "foo:\n  bar: 2\n")
+        self.assertEqual(mock_popen.return_value.stdin.write.call_count, 6)
+        self.assertIn(b' bar: ', mock_popen.return_value.stdin.write.call_args_list[5][0][0])
+        self.assertIn(b' bar: ', mock_popen.return_value.stdin.write.call_args_list[4][0][0])
+        self.assertIn(b' foo:', mock_popen.return_value.stdin.write.call_args_list[3][0][0])
+
     @patch('subprocess.call', return_value=1)
     def test_invoke_editor(self, mock_subprocess_call):
         os.environ.pop('EDITOR', None)
diff --git a/typings/cdiff/__init__.pyi b/typings/cdiff/__init__.pyi
index 4578d468..c23b6d73 100644
--- a/typings/cdiff/__init__.pyi
+++ b/typings/cdiff/__init__.pyi
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import io
 from typing import Any
 class PatchStream:
-    def __init__(self, diff_hdl: io.TextIOBase) -> None: ...
+    def __init__(self, diff_hdl: io.BytesIOBase) -> None: ...
 def markup_to_pager(stream: Any, opts: Any) -> None: ...
diff --git a/typings/ydiff/__init__.pyi b/typings/ydiff/__init__.pyi
index 4578d468..c23b6d73 100644
--- a/typings/ydiff/__init__.pyi
+++ b/typings/ydiff/__init__.pyi
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import io
 from typing import Any
 class PatchStream:
-    def __init__(self, diff_hdl: io.TextIOBase) -> None: ...
+    def __init__(self, diff_hdl: io.BytesIOBase) -> None: ...
 def markup_to_pager(stream: Any, opts: Any) -> None: ...