diff --git a/src/Base/Interpreter.cpp b/src/Base/Interpreter.cpp
index 44c4b35a0a..321b2cc856 100644
--- a/src/Base/Interpreter.cpp
+++ b/src/Base/Interpreter.cpp
@@ -328,8 +328,12 @@ std::string InterpreterSingleton::runStringWithKey(const char *psCmd, const char
     if (!key_return_value.isString())
         key_return_value = key_return_value.str();
 
+#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION >= 3
     Py::Bytes str = Py::String(key_return_value).encode("utf-8", "~E~");
     std::string result = static_cast<std::string>(str);
+#else
+    std::string result = static_cast<std::string>(Py::String(key_return_value));
+#endif
     return result;
 }