diff --git a/lemur/manage.py b/lemur/manage.py
index cea8fbb3..5d6a4c90 100755
--- a/lemur/manage.py
+++ b/lemur/manage.py
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ def unicode_(data):
     import sys
 
     if sys.version_info.major < 3:
-        return unicode(data)
+        return data.decode('UTF-8')
     return data