diff --git a/pykolab/auth/ldap/auth_cache.py b/pykolab/auth/ldap/auth_cache.py
--- a/pykolab/auth/ldap/auth_cache.py
+++ b/pykolab/auth/ldap/auth_cache.py
@@ -134,7 +136,7 @@
     log.debug("Entry found: %r" % (__entries[0].__dict__))
     log.debug("Returning: %r" % (__entries[0].value))
 
-    return __entries[0].value.encode('utf-8', 'latin1')
+    return __entries[0].value.encode('utf-8', 'latin1').decode()
 
 
 def set_entry(key, value):
diff --git a/saslauthd/__init__.py b/saslauthd/__init__.py
--- a/saslauthd/__init__.py
+++ b/saslauthd/__init__.py
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@
                 (value,) = struct.unpack("!%ds" % (length), received[start:end])
                 start += length
                 end = start + 2
-                login.append(value)
+                login.append(value.decode())
 
             if len(login) == 4:
                 realm = login[3]