diff --git a/music-config/predict_rank.py.in b/music-config/predict_rank.py.in
index 4266d458e5a8641e15a31d6b28a63d588edd7918..c2051ebb08309bfa5da28013056ce7d554459cfe 100644
--- a/music-config/predict_rank.py.in
+++ b/music-config/predict_rank.py.in
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ def c_argc_argv (argv):
     t_argv = c_char_p*argc
 
     # construct argv for C
-    c_argv = t_argv (*tuple([c_char_p(arg) for arg in argv]))
+    c_argv = t_argv (*tuple([c_char_p(arg.encode ("utf-8")) for arg in argv]))
     c_argc = c_int (argc)
 
     return (c_argc, c_argv)