diff --git a/helpdesk/management/commands/get_email.py b/helpdesk/management/commands/get_email.py
index be59be3c..46aedf60 100755
--- a/helpdesk/management/commands/get_email.py
+++ b/helpdesk/management/commands/get_email.py
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ def process_queue(q, logger):
                 full_message = encoding.force_text("\n".join(server.retr(msgNum)[1]), errors='replace')
             else:
                 popmsg = server.retr(msgNum)[1]
-                full_message = encoding.force_text(b"\n".join(popmsg), errors='replace')
+                full_message = encoding.force_text(b"\n".join(popmsg.encode()), errors='replace')
             ticket = ticket_from_message(message=full_message, queue=q, logger=logger)
 
             if ticket: