diff --git a/.gitlab/releaser.py b/.gitlab/releaser.py
index 84e94c521acd3b01f3d0dc393739fd85b46065a8..e667379364ca2da0e86feff3825dbea6301aa6e6 100644
--- a/.gitlab/releaser.py
+++ b/.gitlab/releaser.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ def get_current_message():
     request = urllib.request.Request(tag_url)
     response = urllib.request.urlopen(request)
 
-    data = json.load(response)
+    data = json.load(response.read().decode())
     if data['release'] is None:
         return False, ''
     else: