diff --git a/frontends/src/jp/base.py b/frontends/src/jp/base.py
index 7a07d4e3..a0a96919 100644
--- a/frontends/src/jp/base.py
+++ b/frontends/src/jp/base.py
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ class Jp(object):
                 expanded = nodes2jid[_jid]
             else:
                 expanded = jid
-            return unicode(expanded)
+            return expanded.decode('utf-8')
 
         def check(jid):
             if not jid.is_valid: