diff --git a/markov/views.py b/markov/views.py
index 320e112..baa586b 100644
--- a/markov/views.py
+++ b/markov/views.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def import_file(request):
 
             whos = []
             for line in log_file:
-                (timestamp, who, what) = line.split('\t')
+                (timestamp, who, what) = line.decode('utf-8').split('\t')
 
                 if who in ('-->', '<--', '--', ' *'):
                     continue