diff --git a/sfdclib/session.py b/sfdclib/session.py
index f84a5de..82ce906 100644
--- a/sfdclib/session.py
+++ b/sfdclib/session.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ def login(self):
             password += self._token
         data = SfdcSession._LOGIN_TMPL.format(**{'username': self._username, 'password': password})
         r = self.post(url, headers=headers, data=data)
-        root = ET.fromstring(r.text)
+        root = ET.fromstring(r.text.encode('utf-8'))
         if root.find('soapenv:Body/soapenv:Fault', SfdcSession._XML_NAMESPACES):
             raise Exception("Could not log in. Code: %s Message: %s" % (
                 root.find('soapenv:Body/soapenv:Fault/faultcode', SfdcSession._XML_NAMESPACES).text,
@@ -74,4 +74,4 @@ def get_session_id(self):
         return self._session_id
 
     def is_connected(self):
-        return True if self._instance else False
+        return True if self._instance else False
\ No newline at end of file