diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/rtf/input.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/rtf/input.py
index fce73668a2..22bb5263d5 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/rtf/input.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/rtf/input.py
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ class RTFInput(InputFormatPlugin):
         self.log = log
         self.log('Converting RTF to XML...')
         try:
-            xml = self.generate_xml(stream)
+            xml = self.generate_xml(stream.name)
         except RtfInvalidCodeException:
             raise ValueError(_('This RTF file has a feature calibre does not '
             'support. Convert it to HTML first and then try it.'))
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/rtf/output.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/rtf/output.py
index fab7ecad5d..4ef7706762 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/rtf/output.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/rtf/output.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class RTFOutput(OutputFormatPlugin):
 
         out_stream.seek(0)
         out_stream.truncate()
-        out_stream.write(content.encode('cp1252', 'replace'))
+        out_stream.write(content.encode('ascii', 'replace'))
 
         if close:
             out_stream.close()