diff --git a/sentinelsat/sentinel.py b/sentinelsat/sentinel.py
index cc2b6df8..efe9d107 100644
--- a/sentinelsat/sentinel.py
+++ b/sentinelsat/sentinel.py
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ def get_product_odata(self, id, full=False):
         https://github.com/SentinelDataHub/DataHubSystem/blob/master/addon/sentinel-2/src/main/resources/META-INF/sentinel-2.owl
         https://github.com/SentinelDataHub/DataHubSystem/blob/master/addon/sentinel-3/src/main/resources/META-INF/sentinel-3.owl
         """
-        url = urljoin(self.api_url, "odata/v1/Products('{}')?$format=json".format(id))
+        url = urljoin(self.api_url, u"odata/v1/Products('{}')?$format=json".format(id))
         if full:
             url += '&$expand=Attributes'
         response = self.session.get(url, auth=self.session.auth)
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ def check_query_length(query):
             Ratio of the query length to the maximum length
         """
         # The server uses the Java's URLEncoder implementation internally, which we are replicating here
-        effective_length = len(quote_plus(query, safe="-_.*", encoding='utf8').replace('~', '%7E'))
+        effective_length = len(quote_plus(query, safe="-_.*").replace('~', '%7E'))
         return effective_length / 3938
 
     def _query_names(self, names):
diff --git a/tests/test_mod.py b/tests/test_mod.py
index 66f7c45c..28c6e1ed 100644
--- a/tests/test_mod.py
+++ b/tests/test_mod.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 import hashlib
 import textwrap
 from datetime import date, datetime, timedelta
@@ -374,7 +375,7 @@ def test_count():
 @pytest.mark.scihub
 def test_unicode_support():
     api = SentinelAPI(**_api_kwargs)
-    test_str = 'õäü:'
+    test_str = u'٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶:'
 
     with pytest.raises(SentinelAPIError) as excinfo:
         api.count(raw=test_str)
@@ -382,7 +383,7 @@ def test_unicode_support():
 
     with pytest.raises(SentinelAPIError) as excinfo:
         api.get_product_odata(test_str)
-    assert test_str in excinfo.value.msg
+    assert test_str in excinfo.value.response.json()['error']['message']['value']
 
 
 @my_vcr.use_cassette