diff --git a/interfaces/cython/cantera/ck2cti.py b/interfaces/cython/cantera/ck2cti.py
index a5d58a808..b0b958e85 100644
--- a/interfaces/cython/cantera/ck2cti.py
+++ b/interfaces/cython/cantera/ck2cti.py
@@ -64,15 +64,24 @@ ENERGY_UNITS = {'CAL/': 'cal/mol',
                 'KJOULES/MOL': 'kJ/mol',
                 'KJOULES/MOLE': 'kJ/mol'}
 
+_open = open
 if sys.version_info[0] == 2:
     string_types = (str, unicode)
     def strip_nonascii(s):
         return s.decode('ascii', 'ignore')
+
+    def open(filename, *args):
+        return _open(filename, *args)
+
 else:
     string_types = (str,)
     def strip_nonascii(s):
         return s.encode('ascii', 'ignore').decode()
 
+    def open(filename, *args):
+        return _open(filename, *args, errors='ignore')
+
+
 def compatible_quantities(quantity_basis, units):
     if quantity_basis == 'mol':
         return 'molec' not in units
diff --git a/test/data/pdep-test.inp b/test/data/pdep-test.inp
index 84efc89d8..651d98362 100644
--- a/test/data/pdep-test.inp
+++ b/test/data/pdep-test.inp
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 ! Generic mechanism header
+! This line contains a non-unicode character (–) that should just be ignored.
 ELEMENTS
 H  C
 END