diff --git a/src/tools/common/uri.py b/src/tools/common/uri.py
index 0dd1abe0..ff622ef5 100644
--- a/src/tools/common/uri.py
+++ b/src/tools/common/uri.py
@@ -75,13 +75,13 @@ def parseXMPPUri(uri):
 
 def addPairs(uri, pairs):
     for k,v in pairs.iteritems():
-        uri.append(u';' + urllib.quote_plus(k) + u'=' + urllib.quote_plus(v))
+        uri.append(u';' + urllib.quote_plus(k.encode('utf-8')) + u'=' + urllib.quote_plus(v.encode('utf-8')))
 
 def buildXMPPUri(type_, **kwargs):
     uri = [u'xmpp:']
     subtype = kwargs.pop('subtype', None)
     path = kwargs.pop('path')
-    uri.append(urllib.quote_plus(path).replace(u'%40', '@'))
+    uri.append(urllib.quote_plus(path.encode('utf-8')).replace(u'%40', '@'))
 
     if type_ == u'pubsub':
         if subtype == 'microblog' and not kwargs.get('node'):