diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/fix-delete-handling-55232c50b647aa57.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/fix-delete-handling-55232c50b647aa57.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eaca402
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/fix-delete-handling-55232c50b647aa57.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    Correct a problem with handling deleted release notes that
+    triggered a TypeError with a message like "Can't mix strings and
+    bytes in path components"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/reno/scanner.py b/reno/scanner.py
index 2df1166..2f1587a 100644
--- a/reno/scanner.py
+++ b/reno/scanner.py
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ class _ChangeAggregator(object):
                     path = c.old.path.decode('utf-8') if c.old.path else None
                     if _note_file(path):
                         uid = _get_unique_id(path)
-                        by_uid[uid].append((c.type, path))
+                        by_uid[uid].append((c.type, path, sha))
                     else:
                         LOG.debug('ignoring')
                 elif c.type == diff_tree.CHANGE_MODIFY:
@@ -1013,7 +1013,7 @@ class Scanner(object):
                     tracker.add(fullpath, sha, current_version)
 
                 elif c_type == diff_tree.CHANGE_DELETE:
-                    path = change[-1]
+                    path, blob_sha = change[-2:]
                     fullpath = os.path.join(notesdir, path)
                     tracker.delete(fullpath, sha, current_version)
 
diff --git a/reno/tests/test_scanner.py b/reno/tests/test_scanner.py
index 486d1a0..a9f8a36 100644
--- a/reno/tests/test_scanner.py
+++ b/reno/tests/test_scanner.py
@@ -1883,7 +1883,7 @@ class AggregateChangesTest(Base):
         ]
         results = list(self.aggregator.aggregate_changes(entry, changes))
         self.assertEqual(
-            [('%016x' % n, 'delete', name)],
+            [('%016x' % n, 'delete', name, entry.commit.id)],
             results,
         )