diff --git a/journals/views.py b/journals/views.py
index 23c2685248346274dbc94a5f7dfb6c724aa9d9a5..37c12218b1831da12a259583501d1f37553548fa 100644
--- a/journals/views.py
+++ b/journals/views.py
@@ -767,8 +767,8 @@ def metadata_xml_deposit(request, doi_label, option='test'):
             paper=publication.get_paper_nr(),
             doi=publication.doi_label.replace('.', '_'),
             timestamp=timestamp)
-        f = open(settings.MEDIA_ROOT + path_with_timestamp, 'w')
-        f.write(publication.metadata_xml.encode('utf8'))
+        f = open(settings.MEDIA_ROOT + path_with_timestamp, 'w', encoding='utf-8')
+        f.write(publication.metadata_xml)
         f.close()
 
         # Copy file