diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 49dab323..2aed3bd9 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ ENTRY_POINTS = {
 setup(name='ihatemoney',
       version='1.1.dev0',
       description='A simple shared budget manager web application.',
-      long_description="{}\n\n{}".format(README, CHANGELOG),
+      long_description="{}\n\n{}".format(README.encode('utf-8'), CHANGELOG.encode('utf-8')),
       license='Custom BSD Beerware',
       classifiers=[
           "Programming Language :: Python",