diff --git a/src/unity/python/setup.py b/src/unity/python/setup.py
index ddbb611728..0babc853ff 100644
--- a/src/unity/python/setup.py
+++ b/src/unity/python/setup.py
@@ -123,8 +123,8 @@ def run(self):
         sys.stderr.write(msg)
         sys.exit(1)
 
-    with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'README.rst')) as f:
-        long_description = f.read()
+    with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'README.rst'), 'rb') as f:
+        long_description = f.read().decode('utf-8')
 
     setup(
         name="turicreate",