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)