diff --git a/pycorenlp/corenlp.py b/pycorenlp/corenlp.py
index 986c094..989c046 100644
--- a/pycorenlp/corenlp.py
+++ b/pycorenlp/corenlp.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ def annotate(self, text, properties=None):
             self.server_url, params={
                 'properties': str(properties)
             }, data=text)
-        output = r.text
+        output = r.content
         if ('outputFormat' in properties
              and properties['outputFormat'] == 'json'):
             try: