diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ test_requirements = _get_requirements(
 
 def get_version():
     version = pkgutil.get_data('vcsserver', 'VERSION')
-    return version.strip()
+    return str(version.strip())
 
 
 # additional files that goes into package itself