diff --git a/gqrxHandler.py b/gqrxHandler.py
index c9e9fd0..28a1802 100644
--- a/gqrxHandler.py
+++ b/gqrxHandler.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ class GQRXHandler():
 
     def create_telnet_connection(self):
         tel_conn = Telnet(self.hostname, self.port)
-        tel_conn.read_until(bytes("Escape character is '^]'."))
+        tel_conn.read_until(bytes("Escape character is '^]'.", 'utf-8'))
 
         return tel_conn