diff --git a/uploads/InternetArchiveCommon.py b/uploads/InternetArchiveCommon.py
index fe1fc9d..70b578e 100644
--- a/uploads/InternetArchiveCommon.py
+++ b/uploads/InternetArchiveCommon.py
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ def make_pdf_request(filebits, court, casenum, docnum, subdocnum, metadict,
     bucketname = get_bucketname(court, casenum)
     filename = get_pdfname(court, casenum, docnum, subdocnum)
 
-    storage_path = "%s/%s" % (bucketname, filename)
+    storage_path = ("%s/%s" % (bucketname, filename)).encode('utf-8')
     request = _init_put(storage_path)
 
     # Add the payload