diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/1703-sensu_silence-fix_json_parsing.yml b/changelogs/fragments/1703-sensu_silence-fix_json_parsing.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..18d39b5674
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/1703-sensu_silence-fix_json_parsing.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - sensu-silence module - fix json parsing of sensu API responses on Python 3.5 (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/1703).
diff --git a/plugins/modules/monitoring/sensu/sensu_silence.py b/plugins/modules/monitoring/sensu/sensu_silence.py
index acd64f975c..12dc5d2068 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/monitoring/sensu/sensu_silence.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/monitoring/sensu/sensu_silence.py
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ RETURN = '''
 
 import json
 
+from ansible.module_utils._text import to_native
 from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule
 from ansible.module_utils.urls import fetch_url
 
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ def query(module, url, check, subscription):
         )
 
     try:
-        json_out = json.loads(response.read())
+        json_out = json.loads(to_native(response.read()))
     except Exception:
         json_out = ""
 
@@ -181,7 +182,7 @@ def clear(module, url, check, subscription):
             )
 
         try:
-            json_out = json.loads(response.read())
+            json_out = json.loads(to_native(response.read()))
         except Exception:
             json_out = ""
 
@@ -246,7 +247,7 @@ def create(
             )
 
         try:
-            json_out = json.loads(response.read())
+            json_out = json.loads(to_native(response.read()))
         except Exception:
             json_out = ""