diff --git a/cps/web.py b/cps/web.py
index 36ab81a5..3e5062b2 100644
--- a/cps/web.py
+++ b/cps/web.py
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ def load_user_from_header(header_val):
 def check_auth(username, password):
     if sys.version_info.major == 3:
         username=username.encode('windows-1252')
-    user = ub.session.query(ub.User).filter(func.lower(ub.User.nickname) == username.lower()).first()
+    user = ub.session.query(ub.User).filter(func.lower(ub.User.nickname) == username.decode('utf-8').lower()).first()
     return bool(user and check_password_hash(user.password, password))