diff --git a/simpleCoin/miner.py b/simpleCoin/miner.py
index 2e5b964..4b357d3 100644
--- a/simpleCoin/miner.py
+++ b/simpleCoin/miner.py
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ def mine(a, blockchain, node_pending_transactions):
             # ...we reward the miner by adding a transaction
             # First we load all pending transactions sent to the node server
             NODE_PENDING_TRANSACTIONS = requests.get(MINER_NODE_URL + "/txion?update=" + MINER_ADDRESS).content
-            NODE_PENDING_TRANSACTIONS = json.loads(NODE_PENDING_TRANSACTIONS)
+            NODE_PENDING_TRANSACTIONS = json.loads(NODE_PENDING_TRANSACTIONS.decode('utf-8'))
             # Then we add the mining reward
             NODE_PENDING_TRANSACTIONS.append({
                 "from": "network",