diff --git a/eve_api/api_puller/accounts.py b/eve_api/api_puller/accounts.py
index 76a64b6..ff338e3 100755
--- a/eve_api/api_puller/accounts.py
+++ b/eve_api/api_puller/accounts.py
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ def import_eve_character(api_key, user_id, character_id):
                                                    params=auth_params,
                                                    no_cache=False)
 
-    dom = minidom.parseString(char_doc.body)
+    dom = minidom.parseString(char_doc.body.encode('utf-8'))
     if dom.getElementsByTagName('error'):
         return
 
diff --git a/eve_api/api_puller/alliances.py b/eve_api/api_puller/alliances.py
index a1ed90b..306fc6a 100755
--- a/eve_api/api_puller/alliances.py
+++ b/eve_api/api_puller/alliances.py
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ def __start_full_import():
     print "Querying /eve/AllianceList.xml.aspx/"
     alliance_doc = CachedDocument.objects.api_query('/eve/AllianceList.xml.aspx')
     print "Parsing..."
-    dom = minidom.parseString(alliance_doc.body)
+    dom = minidom.parseString(alliance_doc.body.encode('utf-8'))
     result_node_children = dom.getElementsByTagName('result')[0].childNodes
     
     # This will hold a reference to the <rowset name="alliances> Element.