diff --git a/denote/search.py b/denote/search.py
index c2cc627..284258a 100755
--- a/denote/search.py
+++ b/denote/search.py
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ class Search:
         note = models.Note.objects.get(pk=index)
 
         self._indexContent(hashtable, index, note.text, 1)
-        self._indexContent(hashtable, index, note.title.encode('utf-8'), 5)
+        self._indexContent(hashtable, index, note.title, 5)
         
     def _index_note(self, note, saveDatabase=True):
         hashtable = self._loadDatabase()
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ class Search:
     def search(self, string):
         hashtable = self._loadDatabase()
         
-        string = self._prepare_string(string.encode('utf-8'))
+        string = self._prepare_string(string)
 
         wordlist = string.split(' ')