diff --git a/yahoo_panoptes/framework/utilities/snmp/variable.py b/yahoo_panoptes/framework/utilities/snmp/variable.py
index 413fe005..d905b4e9 100644
--- a/yahoo_panoptes/framework/utilities/snmp/variable.py
+++ b/yahoo_panoptes/framework/utilities/snmp/variable.py
@@ -22,7 +22,12 @@ def __init__(self, queried_oid, oid, index, value, snmp_type):
         self._snmp_type = snmp_type
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        printable_value = strip_non_printable(self._value)
+
+        if hasattr(self.value, u'decode'):
+            printable_value = self.value.decode(u'ascii', u'backslashreplace')
+        else:
+            printable_value = self.value
+
         return (
             u"<{0} value={1} (oid={2}, index={3}, snmp_type={4})>".format(
                     self.__class__.__name__,