1 files changed, 6 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/searx/query.py b/searx/query.py
index b8b1c0d2f..828a6fb30 100644
--- a/searx/query.py
+++ b/searx/query.py
@@ -21,8 +21,12 @@ from searx.languages import language_codes
 from searx.engines import (
     categories, engines, engine_shortcuts
 )
-import string
 import re
+import string
+import sys
+
+if sys.version_info[0] == 3:
+    unicode = str
 
 VALID_LANGUAGE_CODE = re.compile(r'^[a-z]{2,3}(-[a-zA-Z]{2})?$')
 
@@ -146,7 +150,7 @@ class SearchQuery(object):
     """container for all the search parameters (query, language, etc...)"""
 
     def __init__(self, query, engines, categories, lang, safesearch, pageno, time_range):
-        self.query = query
+        self.query = query.encode('utf-8')
         self.engines = engines
         self.categories = categories
         self.lang = lang