diff --git a/submissions/plagiarism.py b/submissions/plagiarism.py
index c15e737419aa997b69576dc28292a9e4da260d4a..c5a82887992d78cc48b98ec4230bbaea1f018904 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,
-            str(submission.title, 'utf-8'),
+            str(submission.title),
         )
 
         if response['status'] == 200: