diff --git a/frontend_tests/casperjs/bin/casperjs b/frontend_tests/casperjs/bin/casperjs
index cb383372c1..335b90dd12 100755
--- a/frontend_tests/casperjs/bin/casperjs
+++ b/frontend_tests/casperjs/bin/casperjs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import sys
 
 def test_cmd(cmd):
     try:
-        return subprocess.check_output([__file__] + cmd.split(' '))
+        return subprocess.check_output([__file__] + cmd.split(' '), universal_newlines=True)
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as err:
         sys.stderr.write('FAIL: %s\n' % ' '.join(err.cmd))
         sys.stderr.write('      %s\n' % err.output)
diff --git a/zerver/views/report.py b/zerver/views/report.py
index 88fecab4cf..797cfd97dd 100644
--- a/zerver/views/report.py
+++ b/zerver/views/report.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ def json_report_error(request, user_profile, message=REQ(), stacktrace=REQ(),
         stacktrace = js_source_map.annotate_stacktrace(stacktrace)
 
     try:
-        version = subprocess.check_output(["git", "log", "HEAD^..HEAD", "--oneline"])
+        version = subprocess.check_output(["git", "log", "HEAD^..HEAD", "--oneline"], universal_newlines=True)
     except Exception:
         version = None