diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/store/stores/bn_plugin.py b/src/calibre/gui2/store/stores/bn_plugin.py
index 30164199b9..bc4a3cd4da 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/store/stores/bn_plugin.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/store/stores/bn_plugin.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class BNStore(BasicStoreConfig, StorePlugin):
             d.exec_()
 
     def search(self, query, max_results=10, timeout=60):
-        url = 'http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%s?keyword=%s&store=ebook&view=list' % (query.replace(' ', '-'), quote_plus(query))
+        url = 'http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%s?keyword=%s&store=ebook&view=list' % (query.decode('utf-8').replace(' ', '-'), quote_plus(query))
 
         br = browser()
 
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/store/stores/woblink_plugin.py b/src/calibre/gui2/store/stores/woblink_plugin.py
index 258a12a0cf..9258813d95 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/store/stores/woblink_plugin.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/store/stores/woblink_plugin.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def as_base64(data):
 
 
 def search(query, max_results=10, timeout=60):
-    url = 'http://woblink.com/publication/ajax?mode=none&query=' + quote_plus(query.encode('utf-8'))
+    url = 'http://woblink.com/publication/ajax?mode=none&query=' + quote_plus(query)
     if max_results > 10:
         if max_results > 20:
             url += '&limit=30'
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/store/stores/wolnelektury_plugin.py b/src/calibre/gui2/store/stores/wolnelektury_plugin.py
index 18358d61b6..317791b194 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/store/stores/wolnelektury_plugin.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/store/stores/wolnelektury_plugin.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class WolneLekturyStore(BasicStoreConfig, StorePlugin):
             d.exec_()
 
     def search(self, query, max_results=10, timeout=60):
-        url = 'http://wolnelektury.pl/szukaj?q=' + quote_plus(query.encode('utf-8'))
+        url = 'http://wolnelektury.pl/szukaj?q=' + quote_plus(query)
 
         br = browser()