diff --git a/compressor/filters/css_default.py b/compressor/filters/css_default.py
index 5323092..46f27c3 100644
--- a/compressor/filters/css_default.py
+++ b/compressor/filters/css_default.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ class CssAbsoluteFilter(FilterBase):
         url = url.strip(' \'"')
         if url.startswith('http://') or url.startswith('/'):
             return "url('%s')" % url
-        full_url = '/'.join([self.directory_name, url])
+        full_url = '/'.join([str(self.directory_name), url])
         full_url = os.path.normpath(full_url)
         if self.has_http:
             full_url = "http://%s" % full_url
diff --git a/tests/core/tests.py b/tests/core/tests.py
index 854477e..482bfb1 100644
--- a/tests/core/tests.py
+++ b/tests/core/tests.py
@@ -138,6 +138,9 @@ class CssMediaTestCase(TestCase):
 
 
 class TemplatetagTestCase(TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        settings.COMPRESS = True
+    
     def render(self, template_string, context_dict=None):
         """A shortcut for testing template output."""
         if context_dict is None:
@@ -158,6 +161,15 @@ class TemplatetagTestCase(TestCase):
         out = u'<link rel="stylesheet" href="/media/CACHE/css/f7c661b7a124.css" type="text/css" media="all" charset="utf-8">'
         self.assertEqual(out, self.render(template, context))
 
+    def test_nonascii_css_tag(self):
+        template = u"""{% load compress %}{% compress css %}
+        <link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ MEDIA_URL }}css/nonasc.css" type="text/css" charset="utf-8">
+        {% endcompress %}
+        """
+        context = { 'MEDIA_URL': settings.MEDIA_URL }
+        out = '<link rel="stylesheet" href="/media/CACHE/css/fc35bb10bce9.css" type="text/css" media="all" charset="utf-8">'
+        self.assertEqual(out, self.render(template, context))
+
     def test_js_tag(self):
         template = u"""{% load compress %}{% compress js %}
         <script src="{{ MEDIA_URL }}js/one.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
diff --git a/tests/media/css/nonasc.css b/tests/media/css/nonasc.css
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2afa456
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/media/css/nonasc.css
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+p { background: url( '../../images/test.png' ); }
+.byline:before { content: " —  "; }
\ No newline at end of file