diff --git a/statuspage/statuspage.py b/statuspage/statuspage.py
index 255870b..bd4a773 100644
--- a/statuspage/statuspage.py
+++ b/statuspage/statuspage.py
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 except AttributeError:
     ROOT = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
 
+PY3 = sys.version_info >= (3, 0)
+
 COLORED_LABELS = (
     ("1192FC", "investigating",),
     ("FFA500", "degraded performance"),
@@ -150,11 +152,7 @@ def run_update(name, token, org):
             ref=sha,
         )
 
-        remote_content = base64.b64decode(index.content)
-        remote_checksum = hashlib.sha1(remote_content.encode())
-        local_checksum = hashlib.sha1(content.encode())
-
-        if remote_checksum.hexdigest() == local_checksum.hexdigest():
+        if is_same_content(content, base64.b64decode(index.content)):
            click.echo("Local status matches remote status, no need to commit.")
            return False
 
@@ -174,6 +172,15 @@ def run_update(name, token, org):
             branch="gh-pages",
         )
 
+def is_same_content(c1, c2):
+    def sha1(c):
+        if PY3:
+            if isinstance(c, str):
+                c = bytes(c, "utf-8")
+        else:
+            c = c.encode()
+        return hashlib.sha1(c)
+    return sha1(c1).hexdigest() == sha1(c2).hexdigest()
 
 def run_create(name, token, systems, org):
     gh = Github(token)
diff --git a/statuspage/tests.py b/statuspage/tests.py
index 0bd48be..0414289 100644
--- a/statuspage/tests.py
+++ b/statuspage/tests.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 from click.testing import CliRunner
 from statuspage import cli, update, create, iter_systems, get_severity, SYSTEM_LABEL_COLOR
 from github import UnknownObjectException
-
+import codecs
 
 class CLITestCase(TestCase):
 
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ def setUp(self):
         self.gh().get_user().get_repo().get_issues.return_value = [self.issue, self.issue1]
         self.template = Mock()
         self.template.decoded_content = b"some foo"
-        self.template.content = b"some other foo".encode("base64")
+        self.template.content = codecs.encode(b"some other foo", "base64")
         self.gh().get_user().get_repo().get_file_contents.return_value = self.template
         self.gh().get_organization().get_repo().get_file_contents.return_value = self.template
 
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ def test_update(self):
 
     def test_dont_update_when_nothing_changes(self):
         runner = CliRunner()
-        self.template.content = b"some foo".encode("base64")
+        self.template.content = codecs.encode(b"some foo", "base64")
         result = runner.invoke(update, ["--name", "testrepo", "--token", "token"])
         self.assertEqual(result.exit_code, 0)
         self.gh.assert_called_with("token")