diff --git a/bitter/VERSION b/bitter/VERSION
index c006218..879be8a 100644
--- a/bitter/VERSION
+++ b/bitter/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.7.6
+0.7.7
diff --git a/bitter/utils.py b/bitter/utils.py
index 7e59018..af46ac9 100644
--- a/bitter/utils.py
+++ b/bitter/utils.py
@@ -30,6 +30,12 @@ from bitter.models import Following, User, ExtractorEntry, make_session
 
 from bitter import config
 
+# Fix Python 2.x.
+try:
+    UNICODE_EXISTS = bool(type(unicode))
+except NameError:
+    unicode = lambda s: str(s)
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -90,7 +96,7 @@ def read_config(conffile):
     elif 'BITTER_CONFIG' not in os.environ:
         raise Exception('No config file or BITTER_CONFIG env variable.')
     else:
-        f = io.StringIO(os.environ.get('BITTER_CONFIG', "").strip().replace('\\n', '\n'))
+        f = io.StringIO(unicode(os.environ.get('BITTER_CONFIG', "")).strip().replace('\\n', '\n'))
     return yaml.load(f) or {'credentials': []}