diff --git a/README b/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..31b3d83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+===================
+Installing PyHesiod
+===================
+
+To install PyHesiod, you will first need to install Cython_. It's
+always a good idea to install Cython through your package manager, if
+possible. If your package manager doesn't have a package for Cython,
+or if you wish to install Cython by hand anyway, you can do so by
+running::
+
+  $ easy_install Cython
+
+Once you've done that, to install PyHesiod globally, run::
+
+  $ python setup.py install
+
+If you want to build PyHesiod without installing it globally, you may
+want to run::
+
+  $ python setup.py build_ext --inplace
+
+which will build the C extensions in place next to their source,
+allowing you to import the various modules, so long as your current
+working directory is the root of the PyHesiod source tree.
+
+Alternatively, PyHesiod has been packaged for Debian and Ubuntu. To
+build the Debian package of the latest release, run::
+
+  $ git checkout debian
+  $ git buildpackage
+  $ sudo debi
+
+You will need the devscripts and git-buildpackage packages installed,
+as well as this package's build dependencies (cdbs, debhelper,
+python-all-dev, python-support, python-pyrex, python-setuptools,
+libhesiod-dev).
+
+.. _Cython: http://www.cython.org/
diff --git a/_hesiod.pyx b/_hesiod.pyx
index f0b41d9..62e36fd 100644
--- a/_hesiod.pyx
+++ b/_hesiod.pyx
@@ -41,10 +41,17 @@ def bind(hes_name, hes_type):
     """
     cdef object py_result
     cdef char * c_result
-    
-    name_str, type_str = map(str, (hes_name, hes_type))
-    
-    c_result = hesiod_to_bind(__context, name_str, type_str)
+
+    # N.B. libhesiod actually uses the locale, but
+    # locale.getpreferredencoding is not threadsafe so we have to
+    # assume utf-8.
+
+    if isinstance(hes_name, unicode):
+        hes_name = hes_name.encode('utf-8')
+    if isinstance(hes_type, unicode):
+        hes_type = hes_type.encode('utf-8')
+
+    c_result = hesiod_to_bind(__context, hes_name, hes_type)
     if c_result is NULL:
         raise IOError(errno, strerror(errno))
     py_result = c_result
@@ -59,14 +66,17 @@ def resolve(hes_name, hes_type):
     cdef int i
     cdef object py_result
     py_result = list()
-    cdef char ** c_result
-    
-    name_str, type_str = map(str, (hes_name, hes_type))
+    cdef int err = 0
+    cdef char ** c_result = NULL
+
+    if isinstance(hes_name, unicode):
+        hes_name = hes_name.encode('utf-8')
+    if isinstance(hes_type, unicode):
+        hes_type = hes_type.encode('utf-8')
     
-    __lookup_lock.acquire()
-    c_result = hesiod_resolve(__context, name_str, type_str)
-    err = errno
-    __lookup_lock.release()
+    with __lookup_lock:
+        c_result = hesiod_resolve(__context, hes_name, hes_type)
+        err = errno
     
     if c_result is NULL:
         raise IOError(err, strerror(err))
@@ -74,7 +84,7 @@ def resolve(hes_name, hes_type):
     while True:
         if c_result[i] is NULL:
             break
-        py_result.append(c_result[i])
+        py_result.append(c_result[i].decode('utf-8', 'replace'))
         i = i + 1
     
     hesiod_free_list(__context, c_result)
diff --git a/hesiod.py b/hesiod.py
index 0e4475a..d277150 100755
--- a/hesiod.py
+++ b/hesiod.py
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ def parseRecords(self):
 
 class UidLookup(PasswdLookup):
     def __init__(self, uid):
-        Lookup.__init__(self, uid, 'uid')
+        Lookup.__init__(self, b'%d' % (uid,), 'uid')
 
 class GroupLookup(Lookup):
     def __init__(self, group):
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ def parseRecords(self):
 
 class GidLookup(GroupLookup):
     def __init__(self, gid):
-        Lookup.__init__(self, gid, 'gid')
+        Lookup.__init__(self, b'%d' % (gid,), 'gid')
 
 __all__ = ['bind', 'resolve',
            'Lookup', 'FilsysLookup', 'PasswdLookup', 'UidLookup',
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index f15d7b9..570798b 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 
 from setuptools import setup
 from distutils.extension import Extension
-from Pyrex.Distutils import build_ext
+from Cython.Build import cythonize
 
 setup(
     name="PyHesiod",
-    version="0.2.12",
+    version="0.2.13",
     description="PyHesiod - Python bindings for the Heisod naming library",
     author="Evan Broder",
     author_email="broder@mit.edu",
@@ -14,12 +14,10 @@
     maintainer_email="debathena@mit.edu",
     url="http://ebroder.net/code/PyHesiod",
     license="MIT",
-    requires=['Pyrex'],
     py_modules=['hesiod'],
-    ext_modules=[
+    ext_modules=cythonize([
         Extension("_hesiod",
                   ["_hesiod.pyx"],
-                  libraries=["hesiod"])
-        ],
-    cmdclass= {"build_ext": build_ext}
+                  libraries=["hesiod"]),
+    ]),
 )