diff --git a/geomagio/Util.py b/geomagio/Util.py
index 05eab9d9f918a938057f8fcd3cc01cbec03a6093..a26ff8f947069323e48159e762775b77848f339a 100644
--- a/geomagio/Util.py
+++ b/geomagio/Util.py
@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@ def read_url(url, connect_timeout=15, max_redirects=5, timeout=300):
         curl.setopt(pycurl.WRITEFUNCTION, out.write)
         curl.perform()
         content = out.getvalue()
+        content = content.decode('utf-8')
     except pycurl.error as e:
         raise IOError(e.args)
     finally: