diff --git a/pandora/archive/external.py b/pandora/archive/external.py
index 65f82b944..b3bfce7e9 100644
--- a/pandora/archive/external.py
+++ b/pandora/archive/external.py
@@ -93,7 +93,9 @@ def download(item_id, url):
         return '%s contains no videos' % url
     media = info[0]
     cdir = os.path.abspath(os.curdir)
-    tmp = tempfile.mkdtemp().decode('utf-8')
+    tmp = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+    if isinstance(tmp, bytes):
+        tmp = tmp.decode('utf-8')
     os.chdir(tmp)
     cmd = ['youtube-dl', '-q', media['url']]
     p = subprocess.Popen(cmd,