diff --git a/sickbeard/providers/nextgen.py b/sickbeard/providers/nextgen.py
index 2b4e17b95d8f70a9fe8f71de206ef1ca1a8ffc9e..6bd9ef3c327ebf1caf5a3e40627899083dfd9b4d 100644
--- a/sickbeard/providers/nextgen.py
+++ b/sickbeard/providers/nextgen.py
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ class NextGenProvider(generic.TorrentProvider):
 
             for search_string in search_params[mode]:
 
-                searchURL = self.urls['search'] % (urllib.quote(search_string), self.categories)
+                searchURL = self.urls['search'] % (urllib.quote(search_string.encode('utf-8')), self.categories)
                 logger.log(u"" + self.name + " search page URL: " + searchURL, logger.DEBUG)
 
                 data = self.getURL(searchURL)