diff --git a/rest_framework/parsers.py b/rest_framework/parsers.py
index f1b3e38d4..703cefca8 100644
--- a/rest_framework/parsers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/parsers.py
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ class FileUploadParser(BaseParser):
 
         try:
             meta = parser_context['request'].META
-            disposition = parse_header(meta['HTTP_CONTENT_DISPOSITION'])
+            disposition = parse_header(meta['HTTP_CONTENT_DISPOSITION'].encode('utf-8'))
             return disposition[1]['filename']
         except (AttributeError, KeyError):
             pass
diff --git a/rest_framework/tests/test_parsers.py b/rest_framework/tests/test_parsers.py
index 7699e10c9..ffd6b360f 100644
--- a/rest_framework/tests/test_parsers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/tests/test_parsers.py
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ class TestFileUploadParser(TestCase):
         request = MockRequest()
         request.upload_handlers = (MemoryFileUploadHandler(),)
         request.META = {
-            'HTTP_CONTENT_DISPOSITION': 'Content-Disposition: inline; filename=file.txt'.encode('utf-8'),
+            'HTTP_CONTENT_DISPOSITION': 'Content-Disposition: inline; filename=file.txt',
             'HTTP_CONTENT_LENGTH': 14,
         }
         self.parser_context = {'request': request, 'kwargs': {}}