diff --git a/jnius/jnius_export_class.pxi b/jnius/jnius_export_class.pxi
index 49c8e5e..03efc25 100644
--- a/jnius/jnius_export_class.pxi
+++ b/jnius/jnius_export_class.pxi
@@ -153,8 +153,8 @@ class MetaJavaClass(MetaJavaBase):
 
         cdef JavaClassStorage jcs = JavaClassStorage()
         cdef bytes __javaclass__ = <bytes>classDict['__javaclass__']
-        cdef bytes __javainterfaces__ = <bytes>classDict.get('__javainterfaces__', '')
-        cdef bytes __javabaseclass__ = <bytes>classDict.get('__javabaseclass__', '')
+        cdef bytes __javainterfaces__ = <bytes>classDict.get('__javainterfaces__', b'')
+        cdef bytes __javabaseclass__ = <bytes>classDict.get('__javabaseclass__', b'')
         cdef jmethodID getProxyClass, getClassLoader
         cdef jclass *interfaces
         cdef jobject *jargs