diff --git a/designate/coordination.py b/designate/coordination.py
index 2efbd8c78..f107d1da2 100644
--- a/designate/coordination.py
+++ b/designate/coordination.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class CoordinationMixin(object):
             backend_url = CONF.coordination.backend_url
 
             self._coordinator = tooz.coordination.get_coordinator(
-                backend_url, self._coordination_id)
+                backend_url, self._coordination_id.encode())
             self._coordination_started = False
 
             self.tg.add_timer(CONF.coordination.heartbeat_interval,
diff --git a/designate/producer/service.py b/designate/producer/service.py
index cd0c8a0b7..b9c196ee6 100644
--- a/designate/producer/service.py
+++ b/designate/producer/service.py
@@ -66,8 +66,8 @@ class Service(service.RPCService, coordination.CoordinationMixin,
         super(Service, self).start()
 
         self._partitioner = coordination.Partitioner(
-            self._coordinator, self.service_name, self._coordination_id,
-            range(0, 4095))
+            self._coordinator, self.service_name,
+            self._coordination_id.encode(), range(0, 4095))
 
         self._partitioner.start()
         self._partitioner.watch_partition_change(self._rebalance)
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/bug-1828534-ensure-coordination-ids-are-encoded-b5f32b9e16339251.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/bug-1828534-ensure-coordination-ids-are-encoded-b5f32b9e16339251.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8849eac45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/bug-1828534-ensure-coordination-ids-are-encoded-b5f32b9e16339251.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - |
+    While this patch fixes upgrades from patched Python 2 to patched
+    Python 3 designate releases, the issue will still be present on
+    upgrade from unpatched Python 3 to patched Python 3 designate
+    releases.
+fixes:
+  - |
+    This fixes an issue when upgrading to Python 3 (where bytes and str are
+    different types) and _update_partitions() attempts to sort types of 'str'
+    and 'bytes', causing designate-producer to crash.