diff --git a/template/python3-armhf/index.py b/template/python3-armhf/index.py
index b74d2cdc..f070d774 100644
--- a/template/python3-armhf/index.py
+++ b/template/python3-armhf/index.py
@@ -2,8 +2,15 @@
 # Licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
 
 import sys
+import os
 from function import handler
 
+
+# distutils.util.strtobool() can throw an exception
+def is_true(val):
+    return val and val.lower() == "true" or val == "1"
+
+
 def get_stdin():
     buf = ""
     while(True):
@@ -13,9 +20,14 @@ def get_stdin():
             break
     return buf
 
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     st = get_stdin()
+    raw_body = os.getenv("RAW_BODY")
+
+    if is_true(raw_body):
+        st = st.encode("utf-8")
+
     ret = handler.handle(st)
     if ret != None:
         print(ret)
-    
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/template/python3-debian/index.py b/template/python3-debian/index.py
index f49caaec..554549b3 100644
--- a/template/python3-debian/index.py
+++ b/template/python3-debian/index.py
@@ -2,19 +2,32 @@
 # Licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
 
 import sys
+import os
 from function import handler
 
+
+# distutils.util.strtobool() can throw an exception
+def is_true(val):
+    return val and val.lower() == "true" or val == "1"
+
+
 def get_stdin():
     buf = ""
     while(True):
         line = sys.stdin.readline()
         buf += line
-        if line=="":
+        if line == "":
             break
     return buf
 
+
 if(__name__ == "__main__"):
     st = get_stdin()
+
+    raw_body = os.getenv("RAW_BODY")
+    if is_true(raw_body):
+        st = st.encode("utf-8")
+
     ret = handler.handle(st)
     if ret != None:
         print(ret)
diff --git a/template/python3/index.py b/template/python3/index.py
index 6e1a22f8..55b9a902 100644
--- a/template/python3/index.py
+++ b/template/python3/index.py
@@ -3,8 +3,15 @@
 # Licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
 
 import sys
+import os
 from function import handler
 
+
+# distutils.util.strtobool() can throw an exception
+def is_true(val):
+    return val and val.lower() == "true" or val == "1"
+
+
 def get_stdin():
     buf = ""
     while(True):
@@ -14,8 +21,14 @@ def get_stdin():
             break
     return buf
 
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     st = get_stdin()
+    raw_body = os.getenv("RAW_BODY")
+
+    if is_true(raw_body):
+        st = st.encode("utf-8")
+
     ret = handler.handle(st)
     if ret != None:
         print(ret)