diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c220c48b..e3df2d10 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 
 import sys
 import os
+from codecs import open
 
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages, Extension
 from opbeat.version import VERSION