diff --git a/monasca_api/healthcheck/kafka_check.py b/monasca_api/healthcheck/kafka_check.py
index 6eae26ce5..74b8fb369 100644
--- a/monasca_api/healthcheck/kafka_check.py
+++ b/monasca_api/healthcheck/kafka_check.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 from oslo_config import cfg
 from oslo_log import log
+from six import PY3
 
 from monasca_api.healthcheck import base
 from monasca_common.kafka_lib import client
@@ -59,6 +60,8 @@ class KafkaHealthCheck(base.BaseHealthCheck):
         topics = (CONF.kafka.metrics_topic,
                   CONF.kafka.events_topic,
                   CONF.kafka.alarm_state_transitions_topic)
+        if PY3:
+            topics = tuple(topic.encode('utf-8') for topic in topics)
 
         for topic in topics:
             topic_exists = topic in kafka_client.topics
diff --git a/monasca_api/tests/test_kafka_health_check.py b/monasca_api/tests/test_kafka_health_check.py
index a42632508..50626ceea 100644
--- a/monasca_api/tests/test_kafka_health_check.py
+++ b/monasca_api/tests/test_kafka_health_check.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 # under the License.
 
 import mock
+from six import PY3
 
 from monasca_common.kafka_lib import client
 
@@ -26,14 +27,15 @@ CONF = config.CONF
 class TestKafkaHealthCheckLogic(base.BaseTestCase):
 
     mock_kafka_url = 'localhost:1234'
-    mocked_topics = 'test1'
-    mocked_event_topic = 'test2'
-    mocked_alarm_state_topic = 'test3'
+    mocked_topics = b'test1'
+    mocked_event_topic = b'test2'
+    mocked_alarm_state_topic = b'test3'
     mocked_config = {
         'uri': mock_kafka_url,
-        'metrics_topic': mocked_topics,
-        'events_topic': mocked_event_topic,
-        'alarm_state_transitions_topic': mocked_alarm_state_topic
+        'metrics_topic': mocked_topics.decode('utf-8') if PY3 else mocked_topics,
+        'events_topic': mocked_event_topic.decode('utf-8') if PY3 else mocked_event_topic,
+        'alarm_state_transitions_topic':
+            mocked_alarm_state_topic.decode('utf-8') if PY3 else mocked_alarm_state_topic
     }
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):