diff --git a/r2/r2/lib/filters.py b/r2/r2/lib/filters.py
index c570bf530..dea74ed4d 100644
--- a/r2/r2/lib/filters.py
+++ b/r2/r2/lib/filters.py
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ def wikimarkdown(text):
                             renderer=snudown.RENDERER_WIKI)
     
     # TODO: We should test how much of a load this adds to the app
-    soup = BeautifulSoup(text)
+    soup = BeautifulSoup(text.decode('utf-8'))
     images = soup.findAll('img')
     
     if images: