diff --git a/ckan/lib/hash.py b/ckan/lib/hash.py
index 8aae27ae3b8..7fa52331912 100644
--- a/ckan/lib/hash.py
+++ b/ckan/lib/hash.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ def get_message_hash(value):
         # avoid getting config value at module scope since config may
         # not be read in yet
         secret = config['beaker.session.secret']
-    return hmac.new(secret, value, hashlib.sha1).hexdigest()
+    return hmac.new(secret, value.encode('utf8'), hashlib.sha1).hexdigest()
 
 def get_redirect():
     '''Checks the return_to value against the hash, and if it
diff --git a/ckan/tests/lib/test_hash.py b/ckan/tests/lib/test_hash.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..45002bccfee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ckan/tests/lib/test_hash.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+from nose.tools import assert_equals
+
+from ckan.lib.hash import get_message_hash, get_redirect
+
+class TestHash:
+    @classmethod
+    def setup_class(cls):
+        global secret
+        secret = '42' # so that these tests are repeatable
+
+    def test_get_message_hash(self):
+        assert_equals(get_message_hash(u'/tag/country-uk'), '6f58ff51b42e6b2d2e700abd1a14c9699e115c61')
+
+    def test_get_message_hash_unicode(self):
+        assert_equals(get_message_hash(u'/tag/biocombust\xedveis'), 'd748fa890eb6a964cd317e6ff62905fad645b43d')
+