diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_single.py b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_single.py
index a9130b2ea2..89b7c92125 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_single.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_single.py
@@ -532,7 +532,7 @@ class MetadataSingleDialog(ResizableDialog, Ui_MetadataSingleDialog):
             if self.cover_fetcher.exception is not None:
                 err = self.cover_fetcher.exception
                 error_dialog(self, _('Cannot fetch cover'),
-                    _('<b>Could not fetch cover.</b><br/>')+repr(err)).exec_()
+                    _('<b>Could not fetch cover.</b><br/>')+unicode(err)).exec_()
                 return
 
             pix = QPixmap()