diff --git a/make_user_accounts.py b/make_user_accounts.py
index d5d32bf..c15b2f3 100644
--- a/make_user_accounts.py
+++ b/make_user_accounts.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ passwords = [w.lower() for w in passwords]
 template_env = Environment(loader=FileSystemLoader(args.templates))
 curport = args.port
 usernames = args.from_file.read().strip().splitlines()
-servername = args.servername.read().strip()
+servername = args.servername.strip()
 
 nbconfig = template_env.get_template("jupyter_notebook_config.py")
 csvout = writer(args.csv)