diff --git a/wcs/qommon/emails.py b/wcs/qommon/emails.py
index 6e73180c9..0562facc5 100644
--- a/wcs/qommon/emails.py
+++ b/wcs/qommon/emails.py
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ def email(subject, mail_body, email_rcpt, replyto=None, bcc=None,
             'label': match.group('label'),
             'url': get_action_url(match),
         }
-        return render_to_string('qommon/email_button_link.html', context).encode(encoding)
+        return force_str(render_to_string('qommon/email_button_link.html', context))
 
     text_body = button_re.sub(text_button, text_body) if text_body else None
     html_body = button_re.sub(html_button, html_body) if html_body else None