diff --git a/GPy/__init__.py b/GPy/__init__.py
index 6ca18c49..79204569 100644
--- a/GPy/__init__.py
+++ b/GPy/__init__.py
@@ -59,11 +59,15 @@ def load(file_or_path):
                 m = pickle.load(f)
         else:
             m = pickle.load(file_or_path)
-    except:
-        import pickle
+    except: # python3
+        import pickle 
         if isinstance(file_or_path, str):
             with open(file_or_path, 'rb') as f:
-                m = pickle.load(f)
+                u = pickle._Unpickler(f)  # @UndefinedVariable
+                u.encoding = 'latin1'
+                m = u.load()
         else:
-            m = pickle.load(file_or_path)
+            u = pickle._Unpickler(file_or_path)  # @UndefinedVariable
+            u.encoding = 'latin1'
+            m = u.load()
     return m