diff --git a/src/lib/Server/Plugins/Cfg.py b/src/lib/Server/Plugins/Cfg.py
index 9ec39e1..1f42549 100644
--- a/src/lib/Server/Plugins/Cfg.py
+++ b/src/lib/Server/Plugins/Cfg.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 __revision__ = '$Revision$'

 import binascii
+import codecs
 import logging
 import lxml
 import operator
@@ -173,8 +174,9 @@ class CfgEntrySet(Bcfg2.Server.Plugin.EntrySet):
             try:
                 fname = entry.get('realname', entry.get('name'))
                 s = {'useStackFrames': False}
-                template = Cheetah.Template.Template(open(basefile.name).read(),
-                                                       compilerSettings=s)
+                template = Cheetah.Template.Template(codecs.open(basefile.name,
+                                                                 encoding=self.encoding).read(),
+                                                     compilerSettings=s)
                 template.metadata = metadata
                 template.path = fname
                 template.source_path = basefile.name
@@ -195,6 +197,8 @@ class CfgEntrySet(Bcfg2.Server.Plugin.EntrySet):
         else:
             try:
                 entry.text = u_str(data, self.encoding)
+            except TypeError:
+                entry.text = data
             except UnicodeDecodeError:
                 msg = "Failed to decode %s: %s" % (entry.get('name'),
                                                    sys.exc_info()[1])