diff --git a/src/calibre/__init__.py b/src/calibre/__init__.py
index 917df54f6b..fcb627c086 100644
--- a/src/calibre/__init__.py
+++ b/src/calibre/__init__.py
@@ -183,6 +183,14 @@ def prints(*args, **kwargs):
         enc = 'utf-8'
     for i, arg in enumerate(args):
         if isinstance(arg, unicode):
+            if iswindows:
+                from calibre.utils.terminal import Detect
+                cs = Detect(file)
+                if cs.is_console:
+                    cs.write_unicode_text(arg)
+                    if i != len(args)-1:
+                        file.write(bytes(sep))
+                    continue
             try:
                 arg = arg.encode(enc)
             except UnicodeEncodeError:
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/logging.py b/src/calibre/utils/logging.py
index 3330e42ff2..ac6e9bfcbd 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/logging.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/logging.py
@@ -41,19 +41,8 @@ class ANSIStream(Stream):
 
     def prints(self, level, *args, **kwargs):
         from calibre.utils.terminal import ColoredStream
-        with ColoredStream(self.stream, self.color[level]) as cs:
-            kwargs['file'] = self.stream
-            if cs.is_console:
-                for i, arg in enumerate(args):
-                    if isinstance(arg, unicode):
-                        cs.write_unicode_text(arg)
-                    else:
-                        self._prints(arg, end='', file=self.stream)
-                    if i < len(args) - 1:
-                        self._prints(kwargs.get('sep', ' '), end='', file=self.stream)
-                self._prints('', end=kwargs.get('end', '\n'), file=self.stream)
-            else:
-                self._prints(*args, **kwargs)
+        with ColoredStream(self.stream, self.color[level]):
+            self._prints(*args, **kwargs)
 
     def flush(self):
         self.stream.flush()