diff --git a/maya_umbrella/filesystem.py b/maya_umbrella/filesystem.py
index 0e8b776..d1f5c52 100644
--- a/maya_umbrella/filesystem.py
+++ b/maya_umbrella/filesystem.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def read_file(path):
         path (str): File path of source.
 
     Returns:
-         str: The contents of the file path.
+         bytes: The contents of the file path.
 
     """
     with open(path, "rb") as file_stream:
diff --git a/maya_umbrella/scanner.py b/maya_umbrella/scanner.py
index b87eb80..40c08d8 100644
--- a/maya_umbrella/scanner.py
+++ b/maya_umbrella/scanner.py
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def scan_files_from_file(self, text_file):
         Args:
             text_file (str): Path to the text file containing the list of file paths.
         """
-        file_data = read_file(text_file)
+        file_data = read_file(text_file).decode()
         files = file_data.splitlines()
         return self.scan_files_from_list(files)