diff --git a/gramps/cli/clidbman.py b/gramps/cli/clidbman.py
index 466849ff6..054379973 100644
--- a/gramps/cli/clidbman.py
+++ b/gramps/cli/clidbman.py
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ def find_locker_name(dirpath):
     """
     try:
         fname = os.path.join(dirpath, "lock")
-        ifile = io.open(fname, 'rb', encoding='utf8')
+        ifile = io.open(fname, 'r', encoding='utf8')
         username = ifile.read().strip()
         # feature request 2356: avoid genitive form
         last = _("Locked by %s") % username
diff --git a/gramps/gen/recentfiles.py b/gramps/gen/recentfiles.py
index 40ef4439a..afc2e880f 100644
--- a/gramps/gen/recentfiles.py
+++ b/gramps/gen/recentfiles.py
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ class RecentFiles(object):
         """
         Saves the current Gramps RecentFiles collection to the associated file.
         """
-        with open(os.path.expanduser(GRAMPS_FILENAME), 'w') as xml_file:
+        with io.open(os.path.expanduser(GRAMPS_FILENAME), 'w', encoding='utf8') as xml_file:
             if use_lock:
                 fcntl.lockf(xml_file,fcntl.LOCK_EX)
             xml_file.write("<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\"?>\n")
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ class RecentParser(object):
         try:
             # Python3's expat wants bytes, Python2's wants a string.
             fmode = "r" if sys.version_info[0] < 3 else "rb"
-            with open(fname, fmode) as xml_file:
+            with io.open(fname, fmode) as xml_file:
                 if use_lock:
                     fcntl.lockf(xml_file,fcntl.LOCK_SH)
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index fc3c3f029..1fb60265e 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ def merge(in_file, out_file, option, po_dir='po', cache=True):
 
     if (not os.path.exists(out_file) and os.path.exists(in_file)):
         if sys.platform == 'win32':
-            cmd = (('set LC_ALL=C && intltool-merge %(opt)s %(po_dir)s %(in_file)s '
+            cmd = (('set LC_ALL=C && perl -S intltool-merge %(opt)s %(po_dir)s %(in_file)s '
                 '%(out_file)s') % 
               {'opt' : option, 
                'po_dir' : po_dir,