diff --git a/layerindex/recipeparse.py b/layerindex/recipeparse.py
index 7f995ec..d4dff78 100644
--- a/layerindex/recipeparse.py
+++ b/layerindex/recipeparse.py
@@ -8,11 +8,12 @@
 import sys
 import os
 import os.path
-import utils
 import tempfile
 import re
 import fnmatch
 
+from layerindex import utils
+
 class RecipeParseError(Exception):
     def __init__(self, msg):
         self.msg = msg
diff --git a/layerindex/update.py b/layerindex/update.py
index e1076b0..e1cfef3 100755
--- a/layerindex/update.py
+++ b/layerindex/update.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import logging
 import subprocess
 import signal
 from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-import utils
+from layerindex import utils
 
 import warnings
 warnings.filterwarnings("ignore", category=DeprecationWarning)
diff --git a/layerindex/update_layer.py b/layerindex/update_layer.py
index fd8d3d4..aa67b14 100644
--- a/layerindex/update_layer.py
+++ b/layerindex/update_layer.py
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ import tempfile
 import shutil
 from distutils.version import LooseVersion
 import itertools
-import utils
-import recipeparse
+from layerindex import utils
+from layerindex import recipeparse
 
 import warnings
 warnings.filterwarnings("ignore", category=DeprecationWarning)
diff --git a/layerindex/utils.py b/layerindex/utils.py
index 72dc342..0a816b7 100644
--- a/layerindex/utils.py
+++ b/layerindex/utils.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ def runcmd(cmd, destdir=None, printerr=True, logger=None):
         raise e
 
     out.seek(0)
-    output = out.read()
+    output = out.read().decode("utf-8")
     #logger.debug("output: %s" % output.rstrip() )
     return output