diff --git a/scripts/fetch_wheels.py b/scripts/fetch_wheels.py
index 7ed968bf..556e8e56 100755
--- a/scripts/fetch_wheels.py
+++ b/scripts/fetch_wheels.py
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ def main():
             wheels = f.read()
 
     if wheels.startswith('/'):
-        with open(wheels, 'r') as f:
+        with open(wheels, 'rb') as f:
             data = f.read()
     elif wheels.startswith('http'):
         data = get_wheels(wheels)