diff --git a/git_retry.py b/git_retry.py
index e67ef1e45..1ae63f8ab 100755
--- a/git_retry.py
+++ b/git_retry.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ class TeeThread(threading.Thread):
   def run(self):
     chunks = []
     for line in self.fd:
+      line = line.decode('utf-8')
       chunks.append(line)
       self.out_fd.write(line)
     self.data = ''.join(chunks)