diff --git a/compressor/templatetags/compress.py b/compressor/templatetags/compress.py
index 9c9b46b..47863ab 100644
--- a/compressor/templatetags/compress.py
+++ b/compressor/templatetags/compress.py
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ class CompressorMixin(object):
             rendered_output = self.render_output(compressor, mode, forced=forced)
             if cache_key:
                 cache_set(cache_key, rendered_output)
-            return rendered_output
+            return rendered_output.decode('utf-8')
         except Exception:
             if settings.DEBUG or forced:
                 raise
diff --git a/compressor/tests/test_jinja2ext.py b/compressor/tests/test_jinja2ext.py
index 043dc51..9f1a0dc 100644
--- a/compressor/tests/test_jinja2ext.py
+++ b/compressor/tests/test_jinja2ext.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from __future__ import with_statement
 
 from django.test import TestCase
@@ -123,3 +124,15 @@ class TestJinja2CompressorExtension(TestCase):
         context = {'MEDIA_URL': settings.COMPRESS_URL}
         out = '<script type="text/javascript">obj={};obj.value="value";</script>'
         self.assertEqual(out, template.render(context))
+
+    def test_nonascii_inline_css(self):
+        org_COMPRESS_ENABLED = settings.COMPRESS_ENABLED
+        settings.COMPRESS_ENABLED = False
+        template = self.env.from_string(u'{% compress css %}'
+                                        u'<style type="text/css">'
+                                        u'/* русский текст */'
+                                        u'</style>{% endcompress %}')
+        out = u'<link rel="stylesheet" href="/media/CACHE/css/b2cec0f8cb24.css" type="text/css" />'
+        settings.COMPRESS_ENABLED = org_COMPRESS_ENABLED
+        context = {'MEDIA_URL': settings.COMPRESS_URL}
+        self.assertEqual(out, template.render(context))