diff --git a/build_debian.sh b/build_debian.sh
index db736d16946e..2bb284182db1 100755
--- a/build_debian.sh
+++ b/build_debian.sh
@@ -463,7 +463,8 @@ EOF
 sudo cp ./files/scripts/core_cleanup.py $FILESYSTEM_ROOT/usr/bin/core_cleanup.py
 
 ## Copy ASIC config checksum
-python files/build_scripts/generate_asic_config_checksum.py
+sudo chmod 755 files/build_scripts/generate_asic_config_checksum.py
+./files/build_scripts/generate_asic_config_checksum.py
 if [[ ! -f './asic_config_checksum' ]]; then
     echo 'asic_config_checksum not found'
     exit 1
diff --git a/files/build_scripts/generate_asic_config_checksum.py b/files/build_scripts/generate_asic_config_checksum.py
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 638259ce938a..41ef6f045e21
--- a/files/build_scripts/generate_asic_config_checksum.py
+++ b/files/build_scripts/generate_asic_config_checksum.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
 
-import syslog
-import os
 import hashlib
+import os
+import syslog
 
 SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER = 'asic_config_checksum'
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def generate_checksum(checksum_files):
     checksum = hashlib.sha1()
     for checksum_file in checksum_files:
         try:
-            with open(checksum_file, 'r') as f:
+            with open(checksum_file, 'rb') as f:
                 for chunk in iter(lambda: f.read(CHUNK_SIZE), b""):
                     checksum.update(chunk)
         except IOError as e: