diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index d6ebf3b743ef19b267223b74773d9cf6b22e2c9e..f63a85f37eb3244114137e90455b521ce4dae4c3 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ from distutils.core import setup
 import subprocess
 
 # Write a version file containing the git hash and info
-git_log = subprocess.check_output(['git', 'log', '-1', '--pretty=%h %ai'])
+git_log = subprocess.check_output(['git', 'log', '-1', '--pretty=%h %ai']).decode('utf-8')
 git_diff = (subprocess.check_output(['git', 'diff', '.'])
-            + subprocess.check_output(['git', 'diff', '--cached', '.']))
+            + subprocess.check_output(['git', 'diff', '--cached', '.'])).decode('utf-8')
 if git_diff == '':
     status = '(CLEAN) ' + git_log
 else: