diff --git a/lib/core/common.py b/lib/core/common.py
index f165c112d..7021ea5de 100644
--- a/lib/core/common.py
+++ b/lib/core/common.py
@@ -1354,7 +1354,7 @@ def getPartRun():
 
 def getUnicode(value):
     if isinstance(value, basestring):
-        return value if isinstance(value, unicode) else unicode(value, conf.dataEncoding if 'dataEncoding' in conf else "utf-8")
+        return value if isinstance(value, unicode) else unicode(value, conf.dataEncoding if 'dataEncoding' in conf else "utf-8", errors='replace')
     else:
         return unicode(value)