diff --git a/wcs/qommon/form.py b/wcs/qommon/form.py
index 6afed9f04..d651dbdfa 100644
--- a/wcs/qommon/form.py
+++ b/wcs/qommon/form.py
@@ -2220,7 +2220,7 @@ class MapWidget(CompositeWidget):
         self.add_media()
         template_names = get_template_names(self)
         context = {'widget': self}
-        return htmltext(render_block_to_string(template_names, 'widget-content', context).encode('utf-8'))
+        return htmltext(force_str(render_block_to_string(template_names, 'widget-content', context)))
 
     def _parse(self, request):
         CompositeWidget._parse(self, request)