diff --git a/git-p4.py b/git-p4.py
index d34a1946b7..2b4500226a 100755
--- a/git-p4.py
+++ b/git-p4.py
@@ -1977,8 +1977,11 @@ class P4Submit(Command, P4UserMap):
                 newdiff += "+%s\n" % os.readlink(newFile)
             else:
                 f = open(newFile, "r")
-                for line in f.readlines():
-                    newdiff += "+" + line
+                try:
+                    for line in f.readlines():
+                        newdiff += "+" + line
+                except UnicodeDecodeError:
+                    pass # Found non-text data and skip, since diff description should only include text
                 f.close()
 
         return (diff + newdiff).replace('\r\n', '\n')