diff --git a/anki/template/view.py b/anki/template/view.py
index 69bbc9ad6..c98520c84 100644
--- a/anki/template/view.py
+++ b/anki/template/view.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class View:
         f = open(self.template_file, 'r')
         try:
             template = f.read()
-            if self.template_encoding:
+            if self.template_encoding and isinstance(template, bytes):
                 template = str(template, self.template_encoding)
         finally:
             f.close()