diff --git a/ceph/ceph/files/ceph-manage-journal.py b/ceph/ceph/files/ceph-manage-journal.py
index f91cbc166..6bb3b2f58 100644
--- a/ceph/ceph/files/ceph-manage-journal.py
+++ b/ceph/ceph/files/ceph-manage-journal.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ def command(arguments, **kwargs):
         arguments,
         stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
         stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+        universal_newlines=True,
         **kwargs)
     out, err = process.communicate()
     return out, err, process.returncode