diff --git a/git_command.py b/git_command.py
index 354fc71..53b3e75 100644
--- a/git_command.py
+++ b/git_command.py
@@ -80,13 +80,13 @@
   def version(self):
     p = GitCommand(None, ['--version'], capture_stdout=True)
     if p.Wait() == 0:
-      return p.stdout
+      return p.stdout.decode('utf-8')
     return None
 
   def version_tuple(self):
     global _git_version
     if _git_version is None:
-      ver_str = git.version().decode('utf-8')
+      ver_str = git.version()
       _git_version = Wrapper().ParseGitVersion(ver_str)
       if _git_version is None:
         print('fatal: "%s" unsupported' % ver_str, file=sys.stderr)
diff --git a/git_config.py b/git_config.py
index a667b3f..aa07d1b 100644
--- a/git_config.py
+++ b/git_config.py
@@ -697,7 +697,7 @@
       self._Set('merge', self.merge)
 
     else:
-      fd = open(self._config.file, 'ab')
+      fd = open(self._config.file, 'a')
       try:
         fd.write('[branch "%s"]\n' % self.name)
         if self.remote:
diff --git a/project.py b/project.py
index 460bf31..95403cc 100644
--- a/project.py
+++ b/project.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
 def _lwrite(path, content):
   lock = '%s.lock' % path
 
-  fd = open(lock, 'wb')
+  fd = open(lock, 'w')
   try:
     fd.write(content)
   finally: