diff --git a/charm b/charm
index 0523f73..1110130 100644
--- a/charm
+++ b/charm
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ RUN_PATH = u'/opt/pycharm-professional/bin/pycharm.sh'
 CONFIG_PATH = u'~/.PyCharm2017.1/config'
 SYSTEM_PATH = u'~/.PyCharm2017.1/system'
 
+
 def print_usage(cmd):
     print(('Usage:\n' +
            '  {0} -h | -? | --help\n' +
@@ -30,9 +31,7 @@ def process_args(argv):
         if arg == '-h' or arg == '-?' or arg == '--help':
             print_usage(argv[0])
             exit(0)
-        elif arg == 'diff' and i == 0:
-            args.append(arg)
-        elif arg == 'merge' and i == 0:
+        elif i == 0 and (arg == 'diff' or arg == 'merge' or arg == '--temp-project'):
             args.append(arg)
         elif arg == '-l' or arg == '--line':
             args.append(arg)
@@ -75,7 +74,7 @@ def try_activate_instance(args):
     while True:
         try:
             path_len = struct.unpack('>h', s.recv(2))[0]
-            path = s.recv(path_len)
+            path = s.recv(path_len).decode('utf-8')
             if os.path.abspath(path) == os.path.abspath(CONFIG_PATH):
                 found = True
                 break
@@ -84,6 +83,7 @@ def try_activate_instance(args):
 
     if found:
         cmd = 'activate ' + token + '\0' + os.getcwd() + '\0' + '\0'.join(args)
+        if sys.version_info.major >= 3: cmd = cmd.encode('utf-8')
         encoded = struct.pack('>h', len(cmd)) + cmd
         s.send(encoded)
         time.sleep(0.5)  # don't close the socket immediately