diff --git a/submissions/plagiarism.py b/submissions/plagiarism.py
index f09bab2c44e210a0af433c59f85e00d4601ad175..c15e737419aa997b69576dc28292a9e4da260d4a 100644
--- a/submissions/plagiarism.py
+++ b/submissions/plagiarism.py
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ class iThenticate:
             folder_id,
             author.user.first_name,
             author.user.last_name,
-            submission.title,
+            str(submission.title, 'utf-8'),
         )
 
         if response['status'] == 200: