diff --git a/youtube-dl b/youtube-dl
index d7b30adca2..c850f26b34 100755
--- a/youtube-dl
+++ b/youtube-dl
@@ -849,7 +849,7 @@ class YoutubeIE(InfoExtractor):
 				return
 		if 'token' not in video_info:
 			if 'reason' in video_info:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: YouTube said: %s' % video_info['reason'][0])
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: YouTube said: %s' % video_info['reason'][0].decode('utf-8'))
 			else:
 				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: "token" parameter not in video info for unknown reason')
 			return