diff --git a/ox/net.py b/ox/net.py
index cb9c613..8706247 100644
--- a/ox/net.py
+++ b/ox/net.py
@@ -52,8 +52,12 @@ def get_json(url, data=None, headers=DEFAULT_HEADERS):
     return json.loads(read_url(url, data, headers).decode('utf-8'))
 
 def open_url(url, data=None, headers=DEFAULT_HEADERS):
-    if isinstance(url, bytes):
-        url = url.decode('utf-8')
+    if PY3:
+        if isinstance(url, bytes):
+            url = url.decode('utf-8')
+    else:
+        if not isinstance(url, bytes):
+            url = url.encode('utf-8')
     url = url.replace(' ', '%20')
     if data and PY3 and not isinstance(data, bytes):
         data = data.encode('utf-8')