diff --git a/hwcounter.c b/hwcounter.c
index 5916762..07a4de7 100644
--- a/hwcounter.c
+++ b/hwcounter.c
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 #include "Python.h"
 #include "structmember.h"
 
+#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION >= 3
+#define PY3K
+#endif
+
 #define HWCOUNTER_GET_TIMESTAMP(count_ptr)				\
     do {								\
 	uint32_t count_high, count_low;					\
@@ -179,6 +183,8 @@ static PyMethodDef hwcounter_methods[] = {
     {NULL, NULL, 0, NULL}
 };
 
+#ifdef PY3K
+// module initialization for python3
 static struct PyModuleDef hwcounter_module = {
     PyModuleDef_HEAD_INIT,
     "hwcounter",
@@ -204,3 +210,23 @@ PyInit_hwcounter(void)
 
     return m;
 }
+#else
+// module initialization for python2
+PyMODINIT_FUNC
+inithwcounter(void)
+{
+    PyObject *m;
+
+    hwcounter_TimerType.tp_new = PyType_GenericNew;
+    if (PyType_Ready(&hwcounter_TimerType) < 0)
+	return NULL;
+
+    if ((m = Py_InitModule3("hwcounter", hwcounter_methods, "This module provides access to a very accurate, high-resolution hardware counter for measurement of time, in terms of processor clock cycles.")) == NULL)
+	return NULL;
+
+    Py_INCREF(&hwcounter_TimerType);
+    PyModule_AddObject(m, "Timer", (PyObject *)&hwcounter_TimerType);
+
+    return m;
+}
+#endif
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 4c88e35..0279ddb 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,13 +1,18 @@
 from setuptools import setup, Extension
 from os import path
+import sys
 
 here = path.abspath(path.dirname(__file__))
 
-with open(path.join(here, 'README.md'), encoding='utf-8') as f:
-    long_description = f.read()
+if sys.version_info[0] >= 3:
+    with open(path.join(here, 'README.md'), encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        long_description = f.read()
+else:
+    with open(path.join(here, 'README.md')) as f:
+        long_description = f.read()
 
 setup(name = 'hwcounter',
-      version = '0.1.0',
+      version = '0.1.2',
       description = 'Highly accurate counter for measuring elapsed time in Python',
       long_description = long_description,
       url = 'https://github.com/paulsmith/hwcounter',
@@ -18,6 +23,8 @@
           'Intended Audience :: Developers',
           'Topic :: System :: Benchmark',
           'License :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software License',
+          'Programming Language :: Python :: 2',
+          'Programming Language :: Python :: 2.7',
           'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
           'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.4',
           'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.5',