diff --git a/tqdm/_utils.py b/tqdm/_utils.py
index 19bc857b..dac5c15d 100644
--- a/tqdm/_utils.py
+++ b/tqdm/_utils.py
@@ -137,4 +137,4 @@ def _term_move_up():  # pragma: no cover
 
 def _sh(*cmd, **kwargs):
     return subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
-                            **kwargs).communicate()[0]
+                            **kwargs).communicate()[0].decode('utf-8')
diff --git a/tqdm/tests/tests_main.py b/tqdm/tests/tests_main.py
index 97744e29..e6bcd261 100644
--- a/tqdm/tests/tests_main.py
+++ b/tqdm/tests/tests_main.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from tests_tqdm import with_setup, pretest, posttest, _range
 
 def _sh(*cmd, **kwargs):
     return subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
-                            **kwargs).communicate()[0]
+                            **kwargs).communicate()[0].decode('utf-8')
 
 
 # WARNING: this should be the last test as it messes with sys.stdin, argv