diff --git a/lang/python/airr/interface.py b/lang/python/airr/interface.py
index a8f60298..b58811dc 100644
--- a/lang/python/airr/interface.py
+++ b/lang/python/airr/interface.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def read_rearrangement(filename, validate=False, debug=False):
       airr.io.RearrangementReader: iterable reader class.
     """
     if filename.endswith(".gz"):
-        handle = gzip.open(filename, 'r')
+        handle = gzip.open(filename, 'rt')
     else:
         handle = open(filename, 'r')
         
diff --git a/lang/python/tests/data/good_rearrangement.tsv.gz b/lang/python/tests/data/good_rearrangement.tsv.gz
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c838c584
Binary files /dev/null and b/lang/python/tests/data/good_rearrangement.tsv.gz differ
diff --git a/lang/python/tests/test_interface.py b/lang/python/tests/test_interface.py
index 5fc54060..0585cac0 100644
--- a/lang/python/tests/test_interface.py
+++ b/lang/python/tests/test_interface.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ def setUp(self):
 
         # Test data
         self.rearrangement_good = os.path.join(data_path, 'good_rearrangement.tsv')
+        self.rearrangement_good_gz = os.path.join(data_path, 'good_rearrangement.tsv.gz')
         self.rearrangement_bad = os.path.join(data_path, 'bad_rearrangement.tsv')
         self.rep_good = os.path.join(data_path, 'good_repertoire.yaml')
         self.rep_bad = os.path.join(data_path, 'bad_repertoire.yaml')
@@ -59,6 +60,24 @@ def test_load_rearrangement(self):
         result = airr.load_rearrangement(self.rearrangement_bad)
         self.assertTupleEqual(result.shape, self.shape_bad, 'load(): bad data failed')
 
+    # @unittest.skip('-> read_rearrangement(): skipped\n')
+    def test_read_rearrangement(self):
+        # Good data
+        result = []
+        reader = airr.read_rearrangement(self.rearrangement_good)
+        for row in reader:
+            result.append(row)
+        reader.close()
+        self.assertTrue(len(result) == self.shape_good[0], 'read_rearrangement(): good data failed')
+
+        # Good data, gzip
+        result = []
+        reader = airr.read_rearrangement(self.rearrangement_good_gz)
+        for row in reader:
+            result.append(row)
+        reader.close()
+        self.assertTrue(len(result) == self.shape_good[0], 'read_rearrangement(): good data (gzip) failed')
+
     # @unittest.skip('-> repertoire_template(): skipped\n')
     def test_repertoire_template(self):
         try: