diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/tweak_book/editor/text.py b/src/calibre/gui2/tweak_book/editor/text.py
index 5efa3a33d3..c319feaea7 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/tweak_book/editor/text.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/tweak_book/editor/text.py
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ class TextEdit(PlainTextEdit):
         c.movePosition(c.NextBlock, n=lnum - 1)
         c.movePosition(c.StartOfLine)
         c.movePosition(c.EndOfLine, c.KeepAnchor)
-        text = unicode(c.selectedText().rstrip('\0'))
+        text = unicode(c.selectedText()).rstrip('\0')
         if col is None:
             c.movePosition(c.StartOfLine)
             lt = text.lstrip()