diff --git a/lib/core/common.py b/lib/core/common.py
index 24bb4f37a..142d29715 100644
--- a/lib/core/common.py
+++ b/lib/core/common.py
@@ -1345,7 +1345,7 @@ def getFileItems(filename, commentPrefix='#', unicode_=True):
         line = line.strip()
         if not unicode_:
             try:
-                str.encode(line)
+                line = str.encode(line)
             except UnicodeDecodeError:
                 continue
         if line: