diff --git a/graphene_file_upload/django/__init__.py b/graphene_file_upload/django/__init__.py
index 6f659b3..ec48187 100644
--- a/graphene_file_upload/django/__init__.py
+++ b/graphene_file_upload/django/__init__.py
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ def parse_body(self, request):
         """Handle multipart request spec for multipart/form-data"""
         content_type = self.get_content_type(request)
         if content_type == 'multipart/form-data' and 'operations' in request.POST:
-            operations = json.loads(request.POST.get('operations', '{}'))
-            files_map = json.loads(request.POST.get('map', '{}'))
+            operations = json.loads(request.POST.get('operations', '{}'), strict=False)
+            files_map = json.loads(request.POST.get('map', '{}'), strict=False)
             return place_files_in_operations(
                 operations,
                 files_map,
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 02a3ed2..ae4e2ba 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # except(IOError, ImportError):
 #     long_description = open('README.md').read()
 
-long_description = open('README.rst').read()
+long_description = open('README.rst', encoding="utf8").read()
 
 flask_requires = [
     'Flask>=1.0.2',