1 files changed, 4 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/meta/lib/oe/patch.py b/meta/lib/oe/patch.py
index a25fd527f6..4a0d3f7149 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oe/patch.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oe/patch.py
@@ -292,7 +292,10 @@ class GitApplyTree(PatchTree):
     def decodeAuthor(line):
         from email.header import decode_header
         authorval = line.split(':', 1)[1].strip().replace('"', '')
-        return decode_header(authorval)[0][0]
+        result =  decode_header(authorval)[0][0]
+        if hasattr(result, 'decode'):
+            result = result.decode('utf-8')
+        return result
 
     @staticmethod
     def interpretPatchHeader(headerlines):