diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/store/gandalf_plugin.py b/src/calibre/gui2/store/gandalf_plugin.py
index de8896428d..4bd8e9e747 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/store/gandalf_plugin.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/store/gandalf_plugin.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class GandalfStore(BasicStoreConfig, StorePlugin):
     def search(self, query, max_results=10, timeout=60):
         url = 'http://www.gandalf.com.pl/s/'
         values={
-            'search': query,
+            'search': query.encode('iso8859_2'),
             'dzialx':'11'
             }