diff --git a/native_client/alphabet.cc b/native_client/alphabet.cc
index 873b4881be..1f0a8dbea2 100644
--- a/native_client/alphabet.cc
+++ b/native_client/alphabet.cc
@@ -3,6 +3,41 @@
 
 #include <fstream>
 
+// std::getline, but handle newline conventions from multiple platforms instead
+// of just the platform this code was built for
+std::istream&
+getline_crossplatform(std::istream& is, std::string& t)
+{
+  t.clear();
+
+  // The characters in the stream are read one-by-one using a std::streambuf.
+  // That is faster than reading them one-by-one using the std::istream.
+  // Code that uses streambuf this way must be guarded by a sentry object.
+  // The sentry object performs various tasks,
+  // such as thread synchronization and updating the stream state.
+  std::istream::sentry se(is, true);
+  std::streambuf* sb = is.rdbuf();
+
+  while (true) {
+    int c = sb->sbumpc();
+    switch (c) {
+    case '\n':
+      return is;
+    case '\r':
+      if(sb->sgetc() == '\n')
+          sb->sbumpc();
+      return is;
+    case std::streambuf::traits_type::eof():
+      // Also handle the case when the last line has no line ending
+      if(t.empty())
+        is.setstate(std::ios::eofbit);
+      return is;
+    default:
+      t += (char)c;
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 int
 Alphabet::init(const char *config_file)
 {
@@ -12,7 +47,7 @@ Alphabet::init(const char *config_file)
   }
   unsigned int label = 0;
   space_label_ = -2;
-  for (std::string line; std::getline(in, line);) {
+  for (std::string line; getline_crossplatform(in, line);) {
     if (line.size() == 2 && line[0] == '\\' && line[1] == '#') {
       line = '#';
     } else if (line[0] == '#') {
diff --git a/native_client/ctcdecode/__init__.py b/native_client/ctcdecode/__init__.py
index ac603aa9ba..ee5645d408 100644
--- a/native_client/ctcdecode/__init__.py
+++ b/native_client/ctcdecode/__init__.py
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ def __init__(self, config_path):
         if err != 0:
             raise ValueError('Alphabet initialization failed with error code 0x{:X}'.format(err))
 
+    def Encode(self, input):
+        """Convert SWIG's UnsignedIntVec to a Python list"""
+        res = super(Alphabet, self).Encode(input)
+        return [el for el in res]
+
 
 def ctc_beam_search_decoder(probs_seq,
                             alphabet,