diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 05295c64347a29ffa04a7fb0edcd7b5d155a33cf..a767087eb3fba02b7063da4f2c0b720e6f48defa 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ __pycache__
 *.pid
 *.swp
 .idea
+venv/
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index ad58a35164d31149ead0402e9391995b5ee1f1e4..26bf187c5993ae78f1c902492b8d457c04937002 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@ stages:
   - deploy
 
 before_script:
-    - virtualenv venv && source venv/bin/activate && pip install -r requirements.txt
+    - virtualenv venv 
+    - source venv/bin/activate
+    - pip install -r requirements.txt
 
 build:
   stage: build
@@ -50,8 +52,9 @@ update-issue:
     - pelican
   only:
     - develop
+
   before_script:
-    - echo "Updating follow transfer issue"
+    - echo "Updating follow_transfer issue"
 
   script:
     - python3 utils/follow_transfer.py --issue
diff --git a/plugins/rst_directives/directives.py b/plugins/rst_directives/directives.py
index 4b6302aa1273adb99c03a9ed1c6ddae42d5eb0fd..233a9414068e8cfcfdc0946feab5295f484fe96b 100644
--- a/plugins/rst_directives/directives.py
+++ b/plugins/rst_directives/directives.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def get_indico_event_as_schedule(url, event):
     import json
 
     response = urlopen(url + '/export/timetable/' + str(event) + ".json").read()
-    data = json.loads(response)
+    data = json.loads(response.decode('utf-8'))
 
     schedule = {}
     for day_k, day_v in data['results'][str(event)].items():