diff --git a/git_command.py b/git_command.py
index d347dd6..51f5e3c 100644
--- a/git_command.py
+++ b/git_command.py
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
     global _git_version
 
     if _git_version is None:
-      ver_str = git.version()
+      ver_str = git.version().decode('utf-8')
       if ver_str.startswith('git version '):
         _git_version = tuple(
           map(int,