diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 4dc5ddff..8d81397f 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def read_to_rst(fname):
         import pypandoc
         #print 'Warning in installation: For rst formatting in pypi, consider installing pypandoc for conversion'
         with open('README.rst', 'w') as f:
-            f.write(unicode(pypandoc.convert('README.md', 'rst')))
+            f.write(unicode(pypandoc.convert('README.md', 'rst'), 'utf-8'))
     except ImportError:
         return read(fname)