diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 1343f01..acd3ef9 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ def read(fname):
 setup(
     name='pymetasploit',
     author='Nadeem Douba',
-    version='2.0',
+    version='2.1',
     author_email='ndouba@gmail.com',
     description='A full-fledged msfrpc library for Metasploit framework.',
     license='GPL',
diff --git a/src/metasploit/__init__.py b/src/metasploit/__init__.py
index 065e507..f7ef39a 100644
--- a/src/metasploit/__init__.py
+++ b/src/metasploit/__init__.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 __credits__ = []
 
 __license__ = 'GPL'
-__version__ = '2.0'
+__version__ = '2.1'
 __maintainer__ = 'Nadeem Douba'
 __email__ = 'ndouba@gmail.com'
 __status__ = 'Development'
diff --git a/src/metasploit/msfconsole.py b/src/metasploit/msfconsole.py
index 0155095..7e36e51 100644
--- a/src/metasploit/msfconsole.py
+++ b/src/metasploit/msfconsole.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 __credits__ = []
 
 __license__ = 'GPL'
-__version__ = '2.0'
+__version__ = '2.1'
 __maintainer__ = 'Nadeem Douba'
 __email__ = 'ndouba@cygnos.com'
 __status__ = 'Development'
diff --git a/src/metasploit/msfrpc.py b/src/metasploit/msfrpc.py
index d012f70..d9b5874 100644
--- a/src/metasploit/msfrpc.py
+++ b/src/metasploit/msfrpc.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 __credits__ = []
 
 __license__ = 'GPL'
-__version__ = '2.0'
+__version__ = '2.1'
 __maintainer__ = 'Nadeem Douba'
 __email__ = 'ndouba@gmail.com'
 __status__ = 'Development'
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ def call(self, method, *args):
             self.client.request('POST', self.uri, packb(l), self._headers)
             r = self.client.getresponse()
             if r.status == 200:
-                return unpackb(r.read())
+                return unpackb(r.read(), raw=False)
             raise MsfRpcError('An unknown error has occurred while logging in.')
         elif self.authenticated:
             l.insert(1, self.sessionid)
@@ -311,9 +311,22 @@ def login(self, username, password):
         """
         if self.sessionid is None:
             r = self.call(MsfRpcMethod.AuthLogin, username, password)
+            # in case r is actually encoded in bytes, this is a safe way to turn it back to string for the try/catch
+            str_data = {}
+            for key, val in r.items():
+                if isinstance(key, bytes):
+                    key_temp = key.decode()
+                else:
+                    key_temp = key
+                if isinstance(val, bytes):
+                    val_temp = val.decode()
+                else:
+                    val_temp = val
+                str_data[key_temp] = val_temp
+
             try:
-                if r['result'] == 'success':
-                    self.sessionid = r['token']
+                if str_data['result'] == 'success':
+                    self.sessionid = str_data['token']
             except KeyError:
                 raise MsfRpcError('Login failed.')
         else:
diff --git a/src/metasploit/utils.py b/src/metasploit/utils.py
index 846946a..d241241 100644
--- a/src/metasploit/utils.py
+++ b/src/metasploit/utils.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 __credits__ = []
 
 __license__ = 'GPL'
-__version__ = '2.0'
+__version__ = '2.1'
 __maintainer__ = 'Nadeem Douba'
 __email__ = 'ndouba@gmail.com'
 __status__ = 'Development'
diff --git a/src/scripts/pymsfconsole b/src/scripts/pymsfconsole
index 48c5a10..33b2db8 100755
--- a/src/scripts/pymsfconsole
+++ b/src/scripts/pymsfconsole
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ __copyright__ = 'Copyright 2021, PyMetasploit Project'
 __credits__ = []
 
 __license__ = 'GPL'
-__version__ = '2.0'
+__version__ = '2.1'
 __maintainer__ = 'Nadeem Douba'
 __email__ = 'ndouba@cygnos.com'
 __status__ = 'Development'
diff --git a/src/scripts/pymsfrpc b/src/scripts/pymsfrpc
index 0851ce7..f4b3f7e 100755
--- a/src/scripts/pymsfrpc
+++ b/src/scripts/pymsfrpc
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ __copyright__ = 'Copyright 2021, PyMetasploit Project'
 __credits__ = []
 
 __license__ = 'GPL'
-__version__ = '2.0'
+__version__ = '2.1'
 __maintainer__ = 'Nadeem Douba'
 __email__ = 'ndouba@cygnos.com'
 __status__ = 'Development'