diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 222cb30..0b6ea59 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ setup(
     version = version,
     description = 'A comprehensive Python module for handling Monero cryptocurrency',
     url = 'https://github.com/emesik/monero-python/',
-    long_description = open('README.rst', encoding = 'utf8').read(),
+    long_description = open('README.rst', 'rb').read().decode('utf-8'),
     install_requires = open('requirements.txt', 'r').read().splitlines(),
     packages = find_packages('.', exclude=['tests']),
     include_package_data = True,