diff --git a/plugins/tts/mary-tts/marytts.py b/plugins/tts/mary-tts/marytts.py
index 6f3336c05..85e56e5de 100644
--- a/plugins/tts/mary-tts/marytts.py
+++ b/plugins/tts/mary-tts/marytts.py
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ def say(self, phrase):
         query = {'OUTPUT_TYPE': 'AUDIO',
                  'AUDIO': 'WAVE_FILE',
                  'INPUT_TYPE': 'TEXT',
-                 'INPUT_TEXT': phrase,
+                 'INPUT_TEXT': phrase.encode('utf8'),
                  'LOCALE': self.language,
                  'VOICE': self.voice}