diff --git a/seafileapi/files.py b/seafileapi/files.py
index ed01e64..aa6ce26 100644
--- a/seafileapi/files.py
+++ b/seafileapi/files.py
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ def upload_local_file(self, filepath, name=None):
         Return a :class:`SeafFile` object of the newly uploaded file.
         """
         name = name or os.path.basename(filepath)
-        with open(filepath, 'r') as fp:
+        with open(filepath, 'rb') as fp:
             return self.upload(fp, name)
 
     def _get_upload_link(self):