diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 9b55e1781762557f1a196068e3f9a8c4acc4f99e..0d5b0101ef185a0c54f59ca2ed483536ac0dff53 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ from distutils.core import Command
 
 BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(globals().get('__file__', os.getcwd()))
 VERSION = subprocess.check_output(
-    ['git', 'describe', '--dirty=*', '--always']).strip()
+    ['git', 'describe', '--dirty=*', '--always']).strip().decode('utf8')
 open('_version.py', 'w').write('__version__ = "%s"\n' % VERSION)
 
 class TestCmd(Command):