diff --git a/git_command.py b/git_command.py
index 3095fda1..0893bff7 100644
--- a/git_command.py
+++ b/git_command.py
@@ -92,7 +92,10 @@ class _GitCall(object):
   def version(self):
     p = GitCommand(None, ['--version'], capture_stdout=True)
     if p.Wait() == 0:
-      return p.stdout.decode('utf-8')
+      if hasattr(p.stdout, 'decode'):
+        return p.stdout.decode('utf-8')
+      else:
+        return p.stdout
     return None
 
   def version_tuple(self):