diff --git a/datarobot_batch_scoring/reader.py b/datarobot_batch_scoring/reader.py
index 7e4bd1b4..9b27f7c1 100644
--- a/datarobot_batch_scoring/reader.py
+++ b/datarobot_batch_scoring/reader.py
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb):
             self.p.terminate()
 
 
-def sniff_dialect(sample, encoding, sep, skip_dialect, ui):
+def sniff_dialect(sample, sep, skip_dialect, ui):
     t1 = time()
     try:
         if skip_dialect:
@@ -396,11 +396,11 @@ def sniff_dialect(sample, encoding, sep, skip_dialect, ui):
             dialect = csv.get_dialect('dataset_dialect')
         else:
             sniffer = csv.Sniffer()
-            dialect = sniffer.sniff(sample.decode(encoding), delimiters=sep)
+            dialect = sniffer.sniff(sample, delimiters=sep)
             ui.debug('investigate_encoding_and_dialect - seconds to detect '
                      'csv dialect: {}'.format(time() - t1))
     except csv.Error:
-        decoded_one = sample.decode(encoding)
+        decoded_one = sample
         t2 = time()
         detector = Detector()
         delimiter, resampled = detector.detect(decoded_one)
@@ -432,6 +432,19 @@ def sniff_dialect(sample, encoding, sep, skip_dialect, ui):
     return dialect
 
 
+def get_opener_and_mode(is_gz, text=False):
+    mode = 'r' if text else 'rb'
+    if is_gz:
+        return (gzip.open, mode)
+    elif six.PY2:
+        if text:
+            from io import open as io_open
+            return (io_open, 'r')
+        return (open, 'rU')
+    else:
+        return (open, mode)
+
+
 def investigate_encoding_and_dialect(dataset, sep, ui, fast=False,
                                      encoding=None, skip_dialect=False,
                                      output_delimiter=None):
@@ -445,10 +458,7 @@ def investigate_encoding_and_dialect(dataset, sep, ui, fast=False,
         sample_size = DETECT_SAMPLE_SIZE_SLOW
 
     is_gz = dataset.endswith('.gz')
-    opener, mode = (
-        (gzip.open, 'rb') if is_gz
-        else (open, ('rU' if six.PY2 else 'rb'))
-    )
+    opener, mode = get_opener_and_mode(is_gz, text=True)
     with opener(dataset, mode) as dfile:
         sample = dfile.read(sample_size)
 
@@ -462,8 +472,12 @@ def investigate_encoding_and_dialect(dataset, sep, ui, fast=False,
         encoding = encoding.lower()
         sample[:1000].decode(encoding)  # Fail here if the encoding is invalid
 
+    opener, mode = get_opener_and_mode(is_gz, text=True)
+    with opener(dataset, mode, encoding=encoding) as dfile:
+        sample = dfile.read(sample_size)
+
     try:
-        dialect = sniff_dialect(sample, encoding, sep, skip_dialect, ui)
+        dialect = sniff_dialect(sample, sep, skip_dialect, ui)
     except csv.Error as ex:
         ui.fatal(ex)
         if len(sample) < 10: