diff --git a/bowerstatic/core.py b/bowerstatic/core.py
index 9dee637..866be4d 100644
--- a/bowerstatic/core.py
+++ b/bowerstatic/core.py
@@ -293,8 +293,9 @@ def html(self):
         return self.renderer(self)
 
     def content(self):
+        # encoding='latin1' for python 3
         with open(self.component.get_filename(
-                self.component.version, self.file_path)) as f:
+                self.component.version, self.file_path), encoding='latin1') as f:
             return f.read()
 
     def renderer(self):