diff --git a/jellyfin_kodi/jellyfin/api.py b/jellyfin_kodi/jellyfin/api.py
index 48c8f023..196a7910 100644
--- a/jellyfin_kodi/jellyfin/api.py
+++ b/jellyfin_kodi/jellyfin/api.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import requests
 
 from helper.utils import settings
 from helper import LazyLogger
+from six import ensure_str
 
 
 LOG = LazyLogger(__name__)
@@ -374,7 +375,7 @@ class API(object):
             "Accept-Charset": "UTF-8,*",
             "Accept-encoding": "gzip",
             "User-Agent": self.config.data['http.user_agent'] or "%s/%s" % (self.config.data['app.name'], self.config.data['app.version']),
-            "x-emby-authorization": auth
+            "x-emby-authorization": ensure_str(auth, 'utf-8')
         }
 
     def send_request(self, url, path, method="get", timeout=None, headers=None, data=None):
diff --git a/jellyfin_kodi/jellyfin/http.py b/jellyfin_kodi/jellyfin/http.py
index 067d0e41..0bfe3ccd 100644
--- a/jellyfin_kodi/jellyfin/http.py
+++ b/jellyfin_kodi/jellyfin/http.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from __future__ import division, absolute_import, print_function, unicode_litera
 import time
 
 import requests
-from six import string_types
+from six import string_types, ensure_str
 
 from helper.utils import JsonDebugPrinter
 from helper import LazyLogger
@@ -216,12 +216,14 @@ class HTTP(object):
         auth += "DeviceId=%s, " % self.config.data.get('app.device_id', 'Unknown Device id')
         auth += "Version=%s" % self.config.data.get('app.version', '0.0.0')
 
-        data['headers'].update({'x-emby-authorization': auth})
+        data['headers'].update({'x-emby-authorization': ensure_str(auth, 'utf-8')})
 
         if self.config.data.get('auth.token') and self.config.data.get('auth.user_id'):
 
             auth += ', UserId=%s' % self.config.data.get('auth.user_id')
-            data['headers'].update({'x-emby-authorization': auth, 'X-MediaBrowser-Token': self.config.data.get('auth.token')})
+            data['headers'].update({
+                'x-emby-authorization': ensure_str(auth, 'utf-8'),
+                'X-MediaBrowser-Token': self.config.data.get('auth.token')})
 
         return data