diff --git a/augur/utils.py b/augur/utils.py
index d5006c6fa..aad8a421c 100644
--- a/augur/utils.py
+++ b/augur/utils.py
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ def read_config(fname):
         return defaultdict(dict)
 
     try:
-        with open(fname) as ifile:
+        with open(fname, 'rb') as ifile:
             config = json.load(ifile)
     except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError as err:
         print("FATAL ERROR:")
diff --git a/augur/validate.py b/augur/validate.py
index 7b923d878..33ea59a77 100644
--- a/augur/validate.py
+++ b/augur/validate.py
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ def load_json_schema(path):
     return jsonschema.Draft6Validator(schema)
 
 def load_json(path):
-    with open(path) as fh:
+    with open(path, 'rb') as fh:
         try:
             jsonToValidate = json.load(fh)
         except json.JSONDecodeError: