diff --git a/lib/core/settings.py b/lib/core/settings.py
index c57bd2851..7a2fe64b9 100644
--- a/lib/core/settings.py
+++ b/lib/core/settings.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ from lib.core.enums import OS
 from thirdparty.six import unichr as _unichr
 
 # sqlmap version (<major>.<minor>.<month>.<monthly commit>)
-VERSION = "1.3.12.33"
+VERSION = "1.3.12.34"
 TYPE = "dev" if VERSION.count('.') > 2 and VERSION.split('.')[-1] != '0' else "stable"
 TYPE_COLORS = {"dev": 33, "stable": 90, "pip": 34}
 VERSION_STRING = "sqlmap/%s#%s" % ('.'.join(VERSION.split('.')[:-1]) if VERSION.count('.') > 2 and VERSION.split('.')[-1] == '0' else VERSION, TYPE)
diff --git a/lib/request/redirecthandler.py b/lib/request/redirecthandler.py
index 13c3fb4a1..18bb1285a 100644
--- a/lib/request/redirecthandler.py
+++ b/lib/request/redirecthandler.py
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ class SmartRedirectHandler(_urllib.request.HTTPRedirectHandler):
             except:
                 redurl = None
                 result = fp
-                fp.read = io.BytesIO("").read
+                fp.read = io.BytesIO(b"").read
         else:
             result = fp