diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index a45b3e1b..10ca12d6 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -7,11 +7,20 @@ before_cache:
 python:
   - "3.6"
 
-install:
-  - pip install --upgrade cardboardlint pylint
-
-script:
-  # Run cardboardlinter, in case of pull requests
-  - if [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" != "false" ]; then
-      cardboardlinter --refspec $TRAVIS_BRANCH -n auto;
-    fi
+jobs:
+  include:
+    - stage: cardboard linter
+      install:
+        - pip install --upgrade cardboardlint pylint
+      script:
+        # Run cardboardlinter, in case of pull requests
+        - if [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" != "false" ]; then
+            cardboardlinter --refspec $TRAVIS_BRANCH -n auto;
+          fi
+    - stage: python unit tests
+      install:
+        - pip install --upgrade -r requirements_tests.txt
+      script:
+        - if [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" != "false" ]; then
+            python -m unittest;
+          fi
diff --git a/requirements_tests.txt b/requirements_tests.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b998a06a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/requirements_tests.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+absl-py
diff --git a/util/test_data/alphabet_macos.txt b/util/test_data/alphabet_macos.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f3fc2856
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/test_data/alphabet_macos.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+a
b
c
diff --git a/util/test_data/alphabet_unix.txt b/util/test_data/alphabet_unix.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..de980441
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/test_data/alphabet_unix.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+a
+b
+c
diff --git a/util/test_data/alphabet_windows.txt b/util/test_data/alphabet_windows.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..61b1b24d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/test_data/alphabet_windows.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+a
+b
+c
+
diff --git a/util/test_text.py b/util/test_text.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..174a3eac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/test_text.py
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import unittest
+import os
+
+from .text import Alphabet
+
+class TestAlphabetParsing(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def _ending_tester(self, file, expected):
+        alphabet = Alphabet(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'test_data', file))
+        label = ''
+        label_id = -1
+        for expected_label, expected_label_id in expected:
+            try:
+                label_id = alphabet.encode(expected_label)
+            except KeyError:
+                pass
+            self.assertEqual(label_id, [expected_label_id])
+            try:
+                label = alphabet.decode([expected_label_id])
+            except KeyError:
+                pass
+            self.assertEqual(label, expected_label)
+
+    def test_macos_ending(self):
+        self._ending_tester('alphabet_macos.txt', [('a', 0), ('b', 1), ('c', 2)])
+
+    def test_unix_ending(self):
+        self._ending_tester('alphabet_unix.txt', [('a', 0), ('b', 1), ('c', 2)])
+
+    def test_windows_ending(self):
+        self._ending_tester('alphabet_windows.txt', [('a', 0), ('b', 1), ('c', 2)])
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()
diff --git a/util/text.py b/util/text.py
index 910796f7..d9a67b96 100644
--- a/util/text.py
+++ b/util/text.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
 
-import codecs
 import numpy as np
 import re
 import struct
@@ -15,7 +14,7 @@ class Alphabet(object):
         self._str_to_label = {}
         self._size = 0
         if config_file:
-            with codecs.open(config_file, 'r', 'utf-8') as fin:
+            with open(config_file, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as fin:
                 for line in fin:
                     if line[0:2] == '\\#':
                         line = '#\n'