diff --git a/django/utils/_os.py b/django/utils/_os.py
index 679b206e18..f5efeab80f 100644
--- a/django/utils/_os.py
+++ b/django/utils/_os.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
 import os
 import stat
 import sys