diff --git a/src/compute/compute.py b/src/compute/compute.py
index 101728d7..faccf0b8 100644
--- a/src/compute/compute.py
+++ b/src/compute/compute.py
@@ -402,7 +402,8 @@ def submit_job_upload():
             error = jsonify(description="Failed to submit job file", error='No batch file selected')
             return error, 400
         
-        if job_file['content'] == '':
+        # decoding content, since from read() method it returns binary encoding
+        if job_file['content'].decode() == '':
             app.logger.error('Batch file is empty')
             error = jsonify(description="Failed to submit job file", error='Batch file is empty')
             return error, 400