diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7bbc71c..46983e7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -97,5 +97,8 @@ ENV/
 # mkdocs documentation
 /site
 
+# PyCharm
+/.idea/
+
 # mypy
 .mypy_cache/
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e63ae9b..b9b948a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -35,7 +35,11 @@ optional arguments:
                         stdout by default.
   --solc-paths SOLC_PATHS
                         Specifies the path replacements to pass onto solidity.
-                        See solc --help for more information.
+                        Can be specified multiple times. See solc --help for
+                        more information.
+  --solc-allow-paths SOLC_ALLOW_PATHS
+                        Specifies allowed paths for solidity imports. See solc
+                        --help for more information.
 ```
 
 # Examples
diff --git a/flattener/core.py b/flattener/core.py
index 855c4a7..a514550 100755
--- a/flattener/core.py
+++ b/flattener/core.py
@@ -85,17 +85,20 @@ def main():
 		help="Specifies the target Solidity source file to flatten.")
 	parser.add_argument("--output", type=ap.FileType('w+'), default=sys.stdout, metavar="FILENAME",
 		help="Specifies the output destination filename. Outputs to stdout by default.")
-	parser.add_argument("--solc-paths", default="",
-		help="Specifies the path replacements to pass onto solidity. See solc --help for more information.")
+	parser.add_argument("--solc-paths", type=str, default=[], action='append',
+		help="Specifies the path replacements to pass onto solidity. Can be specified multiple times. See solc --help for more information.")
+	parser.add_argument("--solc-allow-paths", default="",
+		help="Specifies allowed paths for solidity imports. See solc --help for more information.")
 	args = parser.parse_args()
 
-	if args.solc_paths:
-		solc_args = ["solc", args.solc_paths, "--ast", args.target_solidity_file]
-	else:
-		solc_args = ["solc", "--ast", args.target_solidity_file]
-	solc_proc = subprocess.run(solc_args, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, universal_newlines=True)
+	solc_args = ["solc"] + args.solc_paths
+	if args.solc_allow_paths:
+		solc_args.extend(['--allow-paths', args.solc_allow_paths])
+	solc_args.extend(["--ast", args.target_solidity_file])
+	solc_proc = subprocess.run(solc_args, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
 	solc_proc.check_returncode()
-	flatten_contract(solc_proc.stdout, args.output)
+	# AST output could contain invalid utf-8 strings (e.g. when solc is trying to decode hex"...")
+	flatten_contract(solc_proc.stdout.decode('utf-8', 'ignore'), args.output)
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
 	main()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 9135129..9e83957 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 #!python3
 
+import sys
+if sys.version_info < (3, 5):
+    sys.exit('Sorry, Python < 3.5 is not supported')
+
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
 
 setup(