diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f7cd27a3..299e924a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 ## 2.4.1 / Unreleased
 
 - Fix some logging exceptions
+- Fix exception in CLI config reader (Py2)
 
 
 ## 2.4.0 / 2018-05-30
diff --git a/wsgidav/server/server_cli.py b/wsgidav/server/server_cli.py
index 8c98bd04..f70b1918 100644
--- a/wsgidav/server/server_cli.py
+++ b/wsgidav/server/server_cli.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 from __future__ import print_function
 
 import argparse
+import io
 import json
 import logging
 import os
@@ -223,12 +224,12 @@ def _readConfigFile(config_file, verbose):
         raise RuntimeError("Couldn't open configuration file '{}'.".format(config_file))
 
     if config_file.endswith(".json"):
-        with open(config_file, mode="r", encoding="utf-8") as json_file:
+        with io.open(config_file, mode="r", encoding="utf-8") as json_file:
             # Minify the JSON file to strip embedded comments
             minified = jsmin(json_file.read())
         return json.loads(minified)
     elif config_file.endswith(".yaml"):
-        with open(config_file, mode="r", encoding="utf-8") as yaml_file:
+        with io.open(config_file, mode="r", encoding="utf-8") as yaml_file:
             return yaml.safe_load(yaml_file)
 
     try: