diff --git a/brltty/Bindings/Python/brlapi.pyx b/brltty/Bindings/Python/brlapi.pyx

index 94cced8..8973d5d 100644

--- a/brltty/Bindings/Python/brlapi.pyx

+++ b/brltty/Bindings/Python/brlapi.pyx

@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@ cdef class Connection:

 		if (type(dots) == unicode):

 			dots = dots.encode('latin1')

 		if (len(dots) < dispSize):

-			dots = dots + b"".center(dispSize - len(dots), '\0')

+			dots = dots + "".center(dispSize - len(dots), '\0')

 		c_dots = dots

 		c_udots = <unsigned char *>c_dots

 		c_brlapi.Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS