diff --git a/zerver/management/commands/rename-stream.py b/zerver/management/commands/rename-stream.py
index eee922fa64..f8b230c8dd 100644
--- a/zerver/management/commands/rename-stream.py
+++ b/zerver/management/commands/rename-stream.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
 from zerver.lib.actions import do_rename_stream
 from zerver.models import Realm, get_realm
 
+import sys
+
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     help = """Change the stream name for a realm.
 
@@ -16,6 +18,7 @@ Usage: python manage.py rename-stream <domain> <old name> <new name>"""
             exit(1)
 
         domain, old_name, new_name = args
+        encoding = sys.getfilesystemencoding()
 
         try:
             realm = get_realm(domain)
@@ -23,4 +26,5 @@ Usage: python manage.py rename-stream <domain> <old name> <new name>"""
             print "Unknown domain %s" % (domain,)
             exit(1)
 
-        do_rename_stream(realm, old_name, new_name)
+        do_rename_stream(realm, old_name.decode(encoding),
+                         new_name.decode(encoding))