diff --git a/snakemake/deployment/conda.py b/snakemake/deployment/conda.py
index 956be88f0..869bb70ef 100644
--- a/snakemake/deployment/conda.py
+++ b/snakemake/deployment/conda.py
@@ -564,7 +564,9 @@ def __init__(self, container_img=None, prefix_path=None):
 
             if prefix_path is None or container_img is not None:
                 self.prefix_path = json.loads(
-                    shell.check_output(self._get_cmd("conda info --json"))
+                    shell.check_output(
+                        self._get_cmd("conda info --json"), universal_newlines=True
+                    )
                 )["conda_prefix"]
             else:
                 self.prefix_path = prefix_path