diff --git a/fence-agents/fence/agents/pve/fence_pve.py b/fence-agents/fence/agents/pve/fence_pve.py
index 6686aad..22263b1 100755
--- a/fence-agents/fence/agents/pve/fence_pve.py
+++ b/fence-agents/fence/agents/pve/fence_pve.py
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ def get_ticket(options):
 def send_cmd(options, cmd, post=None):
 	url = options["url"] + cmd
 	conn = pycurl.Curl()
-	output_buffer = io.StringIO()
+	output_buffer = io.BytesIO()
 	if logging.getLogger().getEffectiveLevel() < logging.WARNING:
 		conn.setopt(pycurl.VERBOSE, True)
 	conn.setopt(pycurl.HTTPGET, 1)