diff --git a/Images/lena.ico b/Images/lena.ico
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6fadbe29e
Binary files /dev/null and b/Images/lena.ico differ
diff --git a/PIL/IcoImagePlugin.py b/PIL/IcoImagePlugin.py
index 0068db47f..c484a6774 100644
--- a/PIL/IcoImagePlugin.py
+++ b/PIL/IcoImagePlugin.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class IcoImageFile(BmpImagePlugin.BmpImageFile):
             raise SyntaxError("not an ICO file")
 
         # pick the largest icon in the file
-        m = ""
+        m = b""
         for i in range(i16(s[4:])):
             s = self.fp.read(16)
             if not m:
diff --git a/Tests/test_file_ico.py b/Tests/test_file_ico.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f741cd663
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/test_file_ico.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+from tester import *
+
+from PIL import Image
+
+# sample ppm stream
+file = "Images/lena.ico"
+data = open(file, "rb").read()
+
+def test_sanity():
+    im = Image.open(file)
+    im.load()
+    assert_equal(im.mode, "P")
+    assert_equal(im.size, (16, 16))
+    assert_equal(im.format, "ICO")