diff --git a/jrnl/util.py b/jrnl/util.py
index a10d685f..dcfa103e 100644
--- a/jrnl/util.py
+++ b/jrnl/util.py
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 # encoding: utf-8
+
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
 import sys
 import os
 import getpass as gp