diff --git a/plugin/packages/wakatime/__about__.py b/plugin/packages/wakatime/__about__.py
index 1f3b4d6..13b3578 100644
--- a/plugin/packages/wakatime/__about__.py
+++ b/plugin/packages/wakatime/__about__.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 __title__ = 'wakatime'
 __description__ = 'Common interface to the WakaTime api.'
 __url__ = 'https://github.com/wakatime/wakatime'
-__version_info__ = ('4', '1', '0')
+__version_info__ = ('4', '1', '1')
 __version__ = '.'.join(__version_info__)
 __author__ = 'Alan Hamlett'
 __author_email__ = 'alan@wakatime.com'
diff --git a/plugin/packages/wakatime/cli.py b/plugin/packages/wakatime/cli.py
index 493fcf4..6144906 100644
--- a/plugin/packages/wakatime/cli.py
+++ b/plugin/packages/wakatime/cli.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ sys.path.insert(0, package_folder)
 # import local wakatime package
 try:
     import wakatime
-except TypeError:
+except (TypeError, ImportError):
     # on Windows, non-ASCII characters in import path can be fixed using
     # the script path from sys.argv[0].
     # More info at https://github.com/wakatime/wakatime/issues/32
diff --git a/plugin/packages/wakatime/compat.py b/plugin/packages/wakatime/compat.py
index ba8f107..5dbcfaa 100644
--- a/plugin/packages/wakatime/compat.py
+++ b/plugin/packages/wakatime/compat.py
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ is_py3 = (sys.version_info[0] == 3)
 if is_py2:  # pragma: nocover
 
     def u(text):
+        if text is None:
+            return None
         try:
             return text.decode('utf-8')
         except:
@@ -34,6 +36,8 @@ if is_py2:  # pragma: nocover
 elif is_py3:  # pragma: nocover
 
     def u(text):
+        if text is None:
+            return None
         if isinstance(text, bytes):
             return text.decode('utf-8')
         return str(text)
diff --git a/plugin/packages/wakatime/languages/__init__.py b/plugin/packages/wakatime/languages/__init__.py
index 1795880..1982778 100644
--- a/plugin/packages/wakatime/languages/__init__.py
+++ b/plugin/packages/wakatime/languages/__init__.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 """
 
 import logging
+import sys
 import traceback
 
 from ..compat import u, open, import_module
@@ -53,8 +54,16 @@ class TokenParser(object):
 
     def _extract_tokens(self):
         if self.lexer:
-            with open(self.source_file, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as fh:
-                return self.lexer.get_tokens_unprocessed(fh.read(512000))
+            try:
+                with open(self.source_file, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as fh:
+                    return self.lexer.get_tokens_unprocessed(fh.read(512000))
+            except:
+                pass
+            try:
+                with open(self.source_file, 'r', encoding=sys.getfilesystemencoding()) as fh:
+                    return self.lexer.get_tokens_unprocessed(fh.read(512000))
+            except:
+                pass
         return []
 
     def _save_dependency(self, dep, truncate=False, separator=None,
diff --git a/plugin/packages/wakatime/offlinequeue.py b/plugin/packages/wakatime/offlinequeue.py
index 19e55a0..ab05189 100644
--- a/plugin/packages/wakatime/offlinequeue.py
+++ b/plugin/packages/wakatime/offlinequeue.py
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     HAS_SQL = False
 
+from .compat import u
+
 
 log = logging.getLogger('WakaTime')
 
@@ -50,16 +52,16 @@ class Queue(object):
         try:
             conn, c = self.connect()
             heartbeat = {
-                'file': data.get('entity'),
+                'file': u(data.get('entity')),
                 'time': data.get('time'),
-                'project': data.get('project'),
-                'branch': data.get('branch'),
+                'project': u(data.get('project')),
+                'branch': u(data.get('branch')),
                 'is_write': 1 if data.get('is_write') else 0,
-                'stats': stats,
-                'misc': misc,
-                'plugin': plugin,
+                'stats': u(stats),
+                'misc': u(misc),
+                'plugin': u(plugin),
             }
-            c.execute('INSERT INTO heartbeat VALUES (:file,:time,:project,:branch,:is_write,:stats,:misc,:plugin)', heartbeat)
+            c.execute(u('INSERT INTO heartbeat VALUES (:file,:time,:project,:branch,:is_write,:stats,:misc,:plugin)'), heartbeat)
             conn.commit()
             conn.close()
         except sqlite3.Error:
@@ -90,14 +92,14 @@ class Queue(object):
                     for row_name in ['file', 'time', 'project', 'branch', 'is_write']:
                         if row[index] is not None:
                             clauses.append('{0}=?'.format(row_name))
-                            values.append(row[index])
+                            values.append(u(row[index]))
                         else:
                             clauses.append('{0} IS NULL'.format(row_name))
                         index += 1
                     if len(values) > 0:
-                        c.execute('DELETE FROM heartbeat WHERE {0}'.format(' AND '.join(clauses)), values)
+                        c.execute(u('DELETE FROM heartbeat WHERE {0}').format(u(' AND ').join(clauses)), values)
                     else:
-                        c.execute('DELETE FROM heartbeat WHERE {0}'.format(' AND '.join(clauses)))
+                        c.execute(u('DELETE FROM heartbeat WHERE {0}').format(u(' AND ').join(clauses)))
                 conn.commit()
                 if row is not None:
                     heartbeat = {
diff --git a/plugin/packages/wakatime/packages/requests/certs.py b/plugin/packages/wakatime/packages/requests/certs.py
index 47cc228..5463f38 100644
--- a/plugin/packages/wakatime/packages/requests/certs.py
+++ b/plugin/packages/wakatime/packages/requests/certs.py
@@ -21,12 +21,8 @@ except ImportError:
         """Return the preferred certificate bundle."""
         # vendored bundle inside Requests
         is_py3 = (sys.version_info[0] == 3)
-        certdir = os.path.dirname(
-            __file__
-            if is_py3 else
-            __file__.decode(sys.getfilesystemencoding())
-        )
-        return os.path.join(certdir, 'cacert.pem')
+        cacert = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'cacert.pem')
+        return cacert.encode('utf-8') if is_py3 else cacert
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     print(where())
diff --git a/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/git.py b/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/git.py
index cf4d51e..db6c3f2 100644
--- a/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/git.py
+++ b/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/git.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 import logging
 import os
+import sys
 
 from .base import BaseProject
 from ..compat import u, open
@@ -38,8 +39,14 @@ class Git(BaseProject):
             try:
                 with open(head, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as fh:
                     return u(fh.readline().strip().rsplit('/', 1)[-1])
+            except UnicodeDecodeError:
+                try:
+                    with open(head, 'r', encoding=sys.getfilesystemencoding()) as fh:
+                        return u(fh.readline().strip().rsplit('/', 1)[-1])
+                except:
+                    log.exception("Exception:")
             except IOError:
-                pass
+                log.exception("Exception:")
         return None
 
     def _project_base(self):
diff --git a/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/mercurial.py b/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/mercurial.py
index 5f222ee..11e15fa 100644
--- a/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/mercurial.py
+++ b/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/mercurial.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 import logging
 import os
+import sys
 
 from .base import BaseProject
 from ..compat import u, open
@@ -36,8 +37,14 @@ class Mercurial(BaseProject):
             try:
                 with open(branch_file, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as fh:
                     return u(fh.readline().strip().rsplit('/', 1)[-1])
+            except UnicodeDecodeError:
+                try:
+                    with open(branch_file, 'r', encoding=sys.getfilesystemencoding()) as fh:
+                        return u(fh.readline().strip().rsplit('/', 1)[-1])
+                except:
+                    log.exception("Exception:")
             except IOError:
-                pass
+                log.exception("Exception:")
         return u('default')
 
     def _find_hg_config_dir(self, path):
diff --git a/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/subversion.py b/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/subversion.py
index e1ed061..cfc8233 100644
--- a/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/subversion.py
+++ b/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/subversion.py
@@ -46,13 +46,13 @@ class Subversion(BaseProject):
             '/usr/local/bin/svn',
         ]
         for location in locations:
-            with open(os.devnull, 'wb') as DEVNULL:
-                try:
+            try:
+                with open(os.devnull, 'wb') as DEVNULL:
                     Popen([location, '--version'], stdout=DEVNULL, stderr=DEVNULL)
                     self.binary_location = location
                     return location
-                except:
-                    pass
+            except:
+                pass
         self.binary_location = 'svn'
         return 'svn'
 
diff --git a/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/wakatime_project_file.py b/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/wakatime_project_file.py
index 97a4652..3b1b8db 100644
--- a/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/wakatime_project_file.py
+++ b/plugin/packages/wakatime/projects/wakatime_project_file.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 import logging
 import os
+import sys
 
 from .base import BaseProject
 from ..compat import u, open
@@ -34,6 +35,13 @@ class WakaTimeProjectFile(BaseProject):
                 with open(self.config, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as fh:
                     self._project_name = u(fh.readline().strip())
                     self._project_branch = u(fh.readline().strip())
+            except UnicodeDecodeError:
+                try:
+                    with open(self.config, 'r', encoding=sys.getfilesystemencoding()) as fh:
+                        self._project_name = u(fh.readline().strip())
+                        self._project_branch = u(fh.readline().strip())
+                except:
+                    log.exception("Exception:")
             except IOError:
                 log.exception("Exception:")
 
diff --git a/plugin/packages/wakatime/stats.py b/plugin/packages/wakatime/stats.py
index b04e7ac..db424c0 100644
--- a/plugin/packages/wakatime/stats.py
+++ b/plugin/packages/wakatime/stats.py
@@ -144,7 +144,12 @@ def number_lines_in_file(file_name):
             for line in fh:
                 lines += 1
     except:
-        return None
+        try:
+            with open(file_name, 'r', encoding=sys.getfilesystemencoding()) as fh:
+                for line in fh:
+                    lines += 1
+        except:
+            return None
     return lines
 
 
@@ -180,5 +185,9 @@ def get_file_contents(file_name):
         with open(file_name, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as fh:
             text = fh.read(512000)
     except:
-        pass
+        try:
+            with open(file_name, 'r', encoding=sys.getfilesystemencoding()) as fh:
+                text = fh.read(512000)
+        except:
+            log.exception("Exception:")
     return text