diff --git a/digital-avatar-app/scripts/verify-deployment.py b/digital-avatar-app/scripts/verify-deployment.py
index 03860a2..7a629b6 100644
--- a/digital-avatar-app/scripts/verify-deployment.py
+++ b/digital-avatar-app/scripts/verify-deployment.py
@@ -74,7 +74,9 @@ def main():
 
 def inspect_container(name, errors):
     try:
-        output = subprocess.check_output(["docker", "inspect", name], text=True)
+        output = subprocess.check_output(
+            ["docker", "inspect", name], universal_newlines=True
+        )
         return json.loads(output)[0]
     except Exception as exc:
         errors.append(f"cannot inspect container {name!r}: {exc}")