diff --git a/devscripts/update-version.py b/devscripts/update-version.py
index ce8d66ee6..fb58b4329 100644
--- a/devscripts/update-version.py
+++ b/devscripts/update-version.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
 from datetime import datetime
 import sys