diff --git a/pykolab/auth/ldap/auth_cache.py b/pykolab/auth/ldap/auth_cache.py
index c410fe6..cd46a4c 100644
--- a/pykolab/auth/ldap/auth_cache.py
+++ b/pykolab/auth/ldap/auth_cache.py
@@ -1,183 +1,178 @@
 # Copyright 2010-2013 Kolab Systems AG (http://www.kolabsys.com)
 #
 # Jeroen van Meeuwen (Kolab Systems) <vanmeeuwen a kolabsys.com>
 #
 # This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 # the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 # (at your option) any later version.
 
 # This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 # GNU General Public License for more details.
 
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #
 
 import datetime
 
 import sqlalchemy
 
 from sqlalchemy import Column
 from sqlalchemy import DateTime
 from sqlalchemy import Integer
 from sqlalchemy import MetaData
 from sqlalchemy import String
 from sqlalchemy import Table
 from sqlalchemy import Text
 
 from sqlalchemy import desc
 from sqlalchemy import create_engine
+from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
 from sqlalchemy.orm import mapper
 
 try:
     from sqlalchemy.orm import relationship
 except:
     from sqlalchemy.orm import relation as relationship
 
 try:
     from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
 except:
     from sqlalchemy.orm import create_session
 
 import pykolab
 
 from pykolab import utils
 from pykolab.constants import KOLAB_LIB_PATH
 from pykolab.translate import _
 
 conf = pykolab.getConf()
 log = pykolab.getLogger('pykolab.auth_cache')
 
 metadata = MetaData()
 
 db = None
 
 ##
 ## Classes
 ##
 
-class Entry(object):
-    def __init__(self, key, value):
-        self.key = key
-        self.value = value
+DeclarativeBase = declarative_base()
 
-##
-## Tables
-##
+class Entry(DeclarativeBase):
+    __tablename__ = 'entries'
 
-entry_table = Table(
-        'entries', metadata,
-        Column('id', Integer, primary_key=True),
-        Column('domain', String(256), index=True, nullable=True),
-        Column('key', Text, index=True, nullable=False),
-        Column('value', Text, nullable=False),
-        Column('last_change', DateTime, nullable=False, default=datetime.datetime.now())
-    )
+    id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
+    domain = Column(String(256), index=True, nullable=True)
+    key = Column(Text, index=True, nullable=False)
+    value = Column(Text, nullable=False)
+    last_change = Column(DateTime, nullable=False, default=datetime.datetime.now())
 
-##
-## Table <-> Class Mappers
-##
-
-mapper(Entry, entry_table)
+    def __init__(self, key, value):
+        self.key = key
+        if not isinstance(value, unicode):
+            self.value = unicode(value, 'utf-8')
+        else:
+            self.value = value
 
 ##
 ## Functions
 ##
 
 def del_entry(key):
     db = init_db()
 
     try:
         _entries = db.query(Entry).filter_by(key=key).delete()
     except sqlalchemy.exc.OperationalError, errmsg:
         db = init_db(reinit=True)
     except sqlalchemy.exc.InvalidRequest, errmsg:
         db = init_db(reinit=True)
     finally:
         _entries = db.query(Entry).filter_by(key=key).delete()
 
     db.commit()
 
 def get_entry(key):
     db = init_db()
 
     try:
         _entries = db.query(Entry).filter_by(key=key).all()
     except sqlalchemy.exc.OperationalError, errmsg:
         db = init_db(reinit=True)
     except sqlalchemy.exc.InvalidRequest, errmsg:
         db = init_db(reinit=True)
     finally:
         _entries = db.query(Entry).filter_by(key=key).all()
 
     if len(_entries) == 0:
         return None
     if len(_entries) > 1:
         return None
 
     log.debug("Entry found: %r" % (_entries[0].__dict__))
     log.debug("Returning: %r" % (_entries[0].value))
 
-    return _entries[0].value
+    return _entries[0].value.encode('utf-8', 'latin1')
 
 def set_entry(key, value):
     db = init_db()
     try:
         _entries = db.query(Entry).filter_by(key=key).all()
     except sqlalchemy.exc.OperationalError, errmsg:
         db = init_db(reinit=True)
     except sqlalchemy.exc.InvalidRequest, errmsg:
         db = init_db(reinit=True)
     finally:
         _entries = db.query(Entry).filter_by(key=key).all()
 
     if len(_entries) == 0:
         db.add(
                 Entry(
                         key,
                         value
                     )
             )
 
         db.commit()
     elif len(_entries) == 1:
         if not _entries[0].value == value:
             _entries[0].value = value
 
         _entries[0].last_change = datetime.datetime.now()
         db.commit()
 
 def purge_entries(db):
     db.query(Entry).filter(Entry.last_change <= (datetime.datetime.now() - datetime.timedelta(1))).delete()
     db.commit()
 
 def init_db(reinit=False):
     """
         Returns a SQLAlchemy Session() instance.
     """
     global db
 
     if not db == None and not reinit:
         return db
 
     db_uri = conf.get('ldap', 'auth_cache_uri')
     if db_uri == None:
         db_uri = 'sqlite:///%s/auth_cache.db' % (KOLAB_LIB_PATH)
 
         if reinit:
             import os
             if os.path.isfile('%s/auth_cache.db' % (KOLAB_LIB_PATH)):
                 os.unlink('%s/auth_cache.db' % (KOLAB_LIB_PATH))
 
     echo = conf.debuglevel > 8
     engine = create_engine(db_uri, echo=echo)
     metadata.create_all(engine)
 
     Session = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
     db = Session()
     purge_entries(db)
 
     return db
diff --git a/tests/unit/test-020-auth_cache.py b/tests/unit/test-020-auth_cache.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c4740dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test-020-auth_cache.py
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+# coding: utf8
+
+import unittest
+
+import datetime
+import os
+
+from pykolab.auth.ldap import auth_cache
+import pykolab
+conf = pykolab.getConf()
+conf.finalize_conf()
+
+import sqlalchemy
+
+from sqlalchemy import Column
+from sqlalchemy import DateTime
+from sqlalchemy import Integer
+from sqlalchemy import MetaData
+from sqlalchemy import String
+from sqlalchemy import Table
+from sqlalchemy import Text
+
+from sqlalchemy import desc
+from sqlalchemy import create_engine
+from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
+from sqlalchemy.orm import mapper
+
+try:
+    from sqlalchemy.orm import relationship
+except:
+    from sqlalchemy.orm import relation as relationship
+
+try:
+    from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
+except:
+    from sqlalchemy.orm import create_session
+
+metadata = MetaData()
+
+##
+## Classes
+##
+
+DeclarativeBase = declarative_base()
+
+class Entry(DeclarativeBase):
+    __tablename__ = 'entries'
+
+    id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
+    domain = Column(String(256), index=True, nullable=True)
+    key = Column(Text, index=True, nullable=False)
+    value = Column(Text, nullable=False)
+    last_change = Column(DateTime, nullable=False, default=datetime.datetime.now())
+
+    def __init__(self, key, value):
+        self.key = key
+        if not isinstance(value, unicode):
+            self.value = unicode(value, 'utf-8')
+        else:
+            self.value = value
+
+engine = create_engine('sqlite:////tmp/%s.db' % (os.getpid()), echo=False, echo_pool=False)
+DeclarativeBase.metadata.create_all(engine)
+
+Session = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
+db = Session()
+
+auth_cache.db = db
+
+class TestAuthCache(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_001_plain_insert(self):
+        auth_cache.set_entry(
+                'somekey',
+                'ou=People,dc=example,dc=org'
+            )
+
+        result = auth_cache.get_entry('somekey')
+        self.assertEqual(result, 'ou=People,dc=example,dc=org')
+
+    def test_002_plain_encoding_insert(self):
+        auth_cache.set_entry(
+                'somekey2',
+                'ou=Geschäftsbereich,ou=People,dc=example,dc=org'
+            )
+
+        result = auth_cache.get_entry('somekey2')
+        self.assertEqual(result, 'ou=Gesch\xc3\xa4ftsbereich,ou=People,dc=example,dc=org')
+
+    def test_003_unicode_insert(self):
+        auth_cache.set_entry(
+                'somekey3',
+                u'ou=Geschäftsbereich,ou=People,dc=example,dc=org'
+            )
+
+        result = auth_cache.get_entry('somekey3')
+        self.assertEqual(result, 'ou=Gesch\xc3\xa4ftsbereich,ou=People,dc=example,dc=org')
+
+    @unittest.skip("Double encoding or decoding")
+    def test_004_unicode_escape(self):
+        auth_cache.set_entry(
+                'somekey4',
+                u'ou=Gesch\xc3\xa4ftsbereich,ou=People,dc=example,dc=org'
+            )
+
+        result = auth_cache.get_entry('somekey4')
+        self.assertEqual(result, u'ou=Gesch\xc3\xa4ftsbereich,ou=People,dc=example,dc=org')
+
+    def test_005_longkey(self):
+        auth_cache.set_entry(
+                'v' + 'e'*512 + 'rylongkey',
+                'v' + 'e'*512 + 'rylongvalue'
+            )
+
+        result = auth_cache.get_entry('v' + 'e'*512 + 'rylongkey')
+        self.assertEqual(result, 'v' + 'e'*512 + 'rylongvalue')