diff --git a/notebook/static/tree/js/directoryreadme.js b/notebook/static/tree/js/directoryreadme.js
index 0c573870f..e4469b22d 100644
--- a/notebook/static/tree/js/directoryreadme.js
+++ b/notebook/static/tree/js/directoryreadme.js
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ define([
         for (var i = 0; i < files_in_directory.length; i++) {
             var file = files_in_directory[i];
             if(file.type === "file"
-                    && file.mimetype === "text/markdown"
                     && file.name.toLowerCase().split(".")[0] === "readme"){
                 return file;
             }