diff --git a/bitshift/languages.py b/bitshift/languages.py
index 21492ac..ce7c0f0 100644
--- a/bitshift/languages.py
+++ b/bitshift/languages.py
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@ import json
 from os import path
 
 with open(path.join(path.dirname(__file__), "languages.json")) as lang_json:
-    LANGS = [str(lang) for lang in json.load(lang_json)["languages"]]
+    LANGS = [lang.encode("utf8") for lang in json.load(lang_json)["languages"]]