diff --git a/barbican/api/middleware/context.py b/barbican/api/middleware/context.py
index a036877d5..c0b0067a4 100644
--- a/barbican/api/middleware/context.py
+++ b/barbican/api/middleware/context.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class BaseContextMiddleware(mw.Middleware):
     def process_request(self, req):
         request_id = req.headers.get('x-openstack-request-id')
         if not request_id:
-            request_id = b'req-' + utils.generate_uuid().encode('ascii')
+            request_id = 'req-' + utils.generate_uuid()
         setattr(req, 'request_id', request_id)
 
     def process_response(self, resp):