diff --git a/python3/Makefile b/python3/Makefile
index 8f34cb8e107..91479a31d8d 100644
--- a/python3/Makefile
+++ b/python3/Makefile
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ install:
 	$(IPROG) -d $(DESTDIR)$(PLUGINDIR)
 
 	
+	$(IDATA) packages/inventory.py $(DESTDIR)$(SITE3_DIR)/
 	$(IDATA) packages/observer.py $(DESTDIR)$(SITE3_DIR)/
 
 	$(IPROG) libexec/host-display $(DESTDIR)$(LIBEXECDIR)
diff --git a/python3/packages/inventory.py b/python3/packages/inventory.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..87847cf5cde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python3/packages/inventory.py
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+"""
+inventory.py
+
+This module defines functions to read and parse constants from the xensource-inventory file.
+"""
+import sys
+
+INVENTORY = "@INVENTORY@"
+INSTALLATION_UUID = "INSTALLATION_UUID"
+
+
+def read_kvpairs(filename):
+    """Read in a file of key-value pairs in the format used by the inventory file"""
+    all_entries = {}
+    with open(filename, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        for line in f:
+            equals = line.index("=")
+            key = line[:equals]
+            value = line[equals+1:].strip().strip("'")
+            all_entries[key] = value
+    return all_entries
+
+
+def parse():
+    """Return the contents of the xensource inventory file as a dictionary"""
+    try:
+        return read_kvpairs(INVENTORY)
+    except FileNotFoundError as e:
+        print("Error: File '{}' not found. {}".format(INVENTORY, e), file=sys.stderr)
+        return {}
+
+
+def get_localhost_uuid():
+    """Return the UUID of the local host"""
+    return parse()[INSTALLATION_UUID]
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile b/scripts/Makefile
index 705b161158a..8204a2a0e66 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile
+++ b/scripts/Makefile
@@ -155,12 +155,10 @@ install:
 ifneq ($(BUILD_PY2), NO)
 	$(IDATA) examples/python/XenAPIPlugin.py $(DESTDIR)$(SITE_DIR)/
 	$(IDATA) examples/python/XenAPI/XenAPI.py $(DESTDIR)$(SITE_DIR)/
-	$(IDATA) examples/python/inventory.py $(DESTDIR)$(SITE_DIR)/
 endif
 	$(IDATA) examples/python/XenAPIPlugin.py $(DESTDIR)$(SITE3_DIR)/
 	sed -i 's/#!\/usr\/bin\/python/#!\/usr\/bin\/python3/' $(DESTDIR)$(SITE3_DIR)/XenAPIPlugin.py
 	$(IDATA) examples/python/XenAPI/XenAPI.py $(DESTDIR)$(SITE3_DIR)/
-	$(IDATA) examples/python/inventory.py $(DESTDIR)$(SITE3_DIR)/
 	$(IPROG) examples/python/shell.py $(DESTDIR)$(LIBEXECDIR)/shell.py
 # YUM plugins
 	$(IPROG) yum-plugins/accesstoken.py $(DESTDIR)$(YUMPLUGINDIR)
diff --git a/scripts/examples/python/inventory.py b/scripts/examples/python/inventory.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 9fd645b5d32..00000000000
--- a/scripts/examples/python/inventory.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-# Simple functions to read the constants from the xensource-inventory file
-
-INVENTORY="@INVENTORY@"
-INSTALLATION_UUID="INSTALLATION_UUID"
-
-
-def read_kvpairs(filename):
-   """Read in a file of key-value pairs in the format used by the inventory file"""
-   f = open(filename)
-   all_entries = {}
-   try:
-        for line in f.readlines():
-            equals = line.index("=")    
-            key = line[0:equals]
-            value = line[equals+1:].strip().strip("'")
-            all_entries[key] = value
-   finally:
-        f.close()
-        return all_entries
-
-
-def parse():
-    """Return the contents of the xensource inventory file as a dictionary"""
-    try:
-        return read_kvpairs(INVENTORY)  
-    except:
-        return {}
-
-
-def get_localhost_uuid():
-    """Return the UUID of the local host"""
-    return parse()[INSTALLATION_UUID]