diff --git a/pysollib/init.py b/pysollib/init.py
index 098720b7..bc822548 100644
--- a/pysollib/init.py
+++ b/pysollib/init.py
@@ -137,7 +137,10 @@ def init():
                 kw['close_fds'] = True
             p = subprocess.Popen(pysollib.settings.FCS_COMMAND+' --help', **kw)
             p.stdin.close()
-            if p.stdout.readline().startswith('fc-solve'):
+            line = p.stdout.readline()
+            if sys.version_info >= (3,):
+                line = line.decode("utf-8")
+            if line.startswith('fc-solve'):
                 pysollib.settings.USE_FREECELL_SOLVER = True
             if os.name == 'posix':
                 os.wait()               # kill zombi