diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 66d99e08..0ec30c20 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -44,11 +44,11 @@ import numpy as np
 def read(fname):
     try:
         with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), fname)) as f:
-            return unicode(f.read())
+            return unicode(f.read(), 'utf-8')
     except NameError:
         #python 3
         with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), fname)) as f:
-            return (f.read())
+            return unicode(f.read(), 'utf-8')
 
 def read_to_rst(fname):
     try: