diff --git a/siphon/catalog.py b/siphon/catalog.py
index b00301630..fad2388fe 100644
--- a/siphon/catalog.py
+++ b/siphon/catalog.py
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ def __init__(self, catalog_url):
             resp.raise_for_status()
 
         # begin parsing the xml doc
-        root = ET.fromstring(resp.text)
+        root = ET.fromstring(resp.content)
         self.catalog_name = root.attrib.get('name', 'No name found')
 
         self.datasets = DatasetCollection()
diff --git a/siphon/radarserver.py b/siphon/radarserver.py
index 4bce94772..35616d469 100644
--- a/siphon/radarserver.py
+++ b/siphon/radarserver.py
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ def _get_metadata(self):
 
     def _get_stations(self, station_file='stations.xml'):
         resp = self.get_path(station_file)
-        self.stations = parse_station_table(ET.fromstring(resp.text))
+        self.stations = parse_station_table(ET.fromstring(resp.content))
 
     def query(self):
         """Return a new query for the radar server.