diff --git a/src/calibre/__init__.py b/src/calibre/__init__.py
index f55c6a77a5..632a08e4bd 100644
--- a/src/calibre/__init__.py
+++ b/src/calibre/__init__.py
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ class LoggingInterface:
 def strftime(fmt, t=time.localtime()):
     ''' A version of strtime that returns unicode strings. '''
     if iswindows:
-        return plugins['winutil'].strftime(unicode(fmt, preferred_encoding), t)
+        return plugins['winutil'][0].strftime(unicode(fmt, preferred_encoding), t)
     return time.strftime(fmt, t).decode(preferred_encoding, 'replace')
     
 def entity_to_unicode(match, exceptions=[], encoding='cp1252'):