diff --git a/frontends/src/jp/cmd_pubsub.py b/frontends/src/jp/cmd_pubsub.py
index 2bcab938..d0ba672d 100644
--- a/frontends/src/jp/cmd_pubsub.py
+++ b/frontends/src/jp/cmd_pubsub.py
@@ -702,7 +702,7 @@ class Search(base.CommandBase):
                 ret = subprocess.call(cmd_args)
             else:
                 p = subprocess.Popen(cmd_args, stdin=subprocess.PIPE)
-                p.communicate(item)
+                p.communicate(item.encode('utf-8'))
                 ret = p.wait()
             if ret != 0:
                 self.disp(A.color(C.A_FAILURE, _(u"executed command failed with exit code {code}").format(code=ret)))