diff --git a/jenkins_jobs/builder.py b/jenkins_jobs/builder.py
index 5d7bbe34a..32c0c39b6 100644
--- a/jenkins_jobs/builder.py
+++ b/jenkins_jobs/builder.py
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ class JenkinsManager(object):
     def is_managed(self, job_name):
         xml = self.jenkins.get_job_config(job_name)
         try:
-            out = XML.fromstring(xml)
+            out = XML.fromstring(xml.encode('utf-8'))
             description = out.find(".//description").text
             return description.endswith(MAGIC_MANAGE_STRING)
         except (TypeError, AttributeError):