diff --git a/helios_auth/auth_systems/google.py b/helios_auth/auth_systems/google.py
index b713404de7d1bb9b527294f0c2baa571679c36f3..0b08b04c17c01225eaa6c227e74c55e46f168055 100644
--- a/helios_auth/auth_systems/google.py
+++ b/helios_auth/auth_systems/google.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ def get_user_info_after_auth(request):
   http = credentials.authorize(http)
   (resp_headers, content) = http.request("https://people.googleapis.com/v1/people/me?personFields=names", "GET")
 
-  response = utils.from_json(content)
+  response = utils.from_json(content.decode('utf-8'))
 
   name = response['names'][0]['displayName']