diff --git a/third_party/py/googlestorage/publish_release.py b/third_party/py/googlestorage/publish_release.py
index d7532029edc08..9628499c3d8e4 100644
--- a/third_party/py/googlestorage/publish_release.py
+++ b/third_party/py/googlestorage/publish_release.py
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ def _upload(auth_http, project_id, bucket_name, file_path, object_name, acl):
         object_name: The name within the bucket to upload to.
         acl: The ACL to assign to the uploaded file.
     """
-    with open(file_path, 'r') as f:
+    with open(file_path, 'rb') as f:
         data = f.read()
     content_type, content_encoding = mimetypes.guess_type(file_path)