diff --git a/helpdesk/lib.py b/helpdesk/lib.py
index ae8d8944..10f4eb00 100644
--- a/helpdesk/lib.py
+++ b/helpdesk/lib.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ except ImportError:
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db.models import Q
+from django.utils import six
 from django.utils.encoding import smart_text
 from django.utils.safestring import mark_safe
 
@@ -123,13 +124,16 @@ def send_templated_mail(template_name,
         for filename, filefield in files:
             mime = mimetypes.guess_type(filename)
             if mime[0] is not None and mime[0] == "text/plain":
-                with open(filefield.path, 'r') as file:
-                    content = file.read()
+                with open(filefield.path, 'r') as attachedfile:
+                    content = attachedfile.read()
                     msg.attach(filename, content)
             else:
-                with open(filefield.path, 'rb') as file:
-                    content = file.read()
-                    msg.attach(filename, content)
+                if six.PY3:
+                    msg.attach_file(filefield.path)
+                else:
+                    with open(filefield.path, 'rb') as attachedfile:
+                        content = attachedfile.read()
+                        msg.attach(filename, content)
 
     return msg.send(fail_silently)
 
diff --git a/helpdesk/management/commands/get_email.py b/helpdesk/management/commands/get_email.py
index cd0b9d79..8f0a4661 100755
--- a/helpdesk/management/commands/get_email.py
+++ b/helpdesk/management/commands/get_email.py
@@ -337,6 +337,7 @@ def ticket_from_message(message, queue, logger):
             if not name:
                 ext = mimetypes.guess_extension(part.get_content_type())
                 name = "part-%i%s" % (counter, ext)
+
             payload = part.get_payload()
             payloadToWrite = payload
             try:
@@ -345,8 +346,8 @@ def ticket_from_message(message, queue, logger):
             except binascii.Error:
                 logger.debug("Payload was not base64 encoded, using raw bytes")
                 payloadToWrite = payload
-            files.append(SimpleUploadedFile(name, encoding.smart_bytes(payloadToWrite), part.get_content_type()))
-            logger.info("Found MIME attachment %s" % name)
+            files.append(SimpleUploadedFile(name, part.get_payload(decode=True), mimetypes.guess_type(name)[0]))
+            logger.debug("Found MIME attachment %s" % name)
 
         counter += 1