diff --git a/lib/pdf417.js b/lib/pdf417.js
index 05b3e0a..c4e02b0 100644
--- a/lib/pdf417.js
+++ b/lib/pdf417.js
@@ -433,7 +433,6 @@ var PDF417 = {
 	 * @param devicePixelRatio (int) determine how much extra pixel density should be added to allow for a sharper image; default window.devicePixelRatio if available
 	 */
 	draw: function(code, canvas, aspectratio, ecl, devicePixelRatio) {
-		code = unescape(encodeURIComponent(code)); // covert UTF-8 to ISO-8859-1
 		ecl = ecl || -1;
 		aspectratio = aspectratio || 2;
 		this.barcode_array = {};