diff --git a/HISTORY.rst b/HISTORY.rst
index c1dc0a5188..61bfa3745c 100644
--- a/HISTORY.rst
+++ b/HISTORY.rst
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 - Remove the document index setup permission.
 - Status messages now display the object class on which they operate not just the word "Object".
 - More tests added.
+- Handle unicode filenames in staging folders.
 
 2.0.2 (2016-02-09)
 ==================
diff --git a/mayan/apps/sources/classes.py b/mayan/apps/sources/classes.py
index 847f573614..3ff49704af 100644
--- a/mayan/apps/sources/classes.py
+++ b/mayan/apps/sources/classes.py
@@ -50,10 +50,10 @@ class StagingFile(object):
             self.encoded_filename = str(encoded_filename)
             self.filename = base64.urlsafe_b64decode(
                 urllib.unquote_plus(self.encoded_filename)
-            )
+            ).decode('utf8')
         else:
             self.filename = filename
-            self.encoded_filename = base64.urlsafe_b64encode(filename)
+            self.encoded_filename = base64.urlsafe_b64encode(filename.encode('utf8'))
 
     def __unicode__(self):
         return unicode(self.filename)