diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/upload.py b/Lib/distutils/command/upload.py
index 7b08336c82f..3b5a0fc9d9f 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/upload.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/upload.py
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class upload(Command):
                   dry_run=self.dry_run)
 
         # Fill in the data
-        content = open(filename).read()
+        content = open(filename,'rb').read()
         data = {
             ':action':'file_upload',
             'protcol_version':'1',