diff --git a/kitty/model/low_level/encoder.py b/kitty/model/low_level/encoder.py
index 606d239..bf48f6d 100644
--- a/kitty/model/low_level/encoder.py
+++ b/kitty/model/low_level/encoder.py
@@ -114,6 +114,8 @@ def encode(self, value):
 
 
 _py2_str_encoder_funcs_cache = {}
+
+
 def py2_str_encoder_func(encoding):
     if encoding not in _py2_str_encoder_funcs_cache:
         _py2_str_encoder_funcs_cache[encoding] = lambda x: x.encode(encoding)
@@ -504,8 +506,7 @@ def encode(self, value):
         '''
         :param value: value to encode
         '''
-        packed = self.fmt % (value)
-        return Bits(bytes=packed)
+        return Bits(bytes=strToBytes(self.fmt % value))
 
 
 ENC_FLT_LE = FloatBinEncoder('<f')