diff --git a/recipes/irish_times.recipe b/recipes/irish_times.recipe
index 4f3d519c28..7c0ed4b285 100644
--- a/recipes/irish_times.recipe
+++ b/recipes/irish_times.recipe
@@ -98,6 +98,6 @@ class IrishTimes(BasicNewsRecipe):
             content.p.insert(0, pic)
 
         self.temp_files.append(PersistentTemporaryFile('_fa.html'))
-        self.temp_files[-1].write(content.prettify())
+        self.temp_files[-1].write(content.prettify().encode('utf-8'))
         self.temp_files[-1].close()
         return self.temp_files[-1].name