diff --git a/course/page/code.py b/course/page/code.py
index 4587d16f0..595cd635f 100644
--- a/course/page/code.py
+++ b/course/page/code.py
@@ -700,7 +700,7 @@ def code_to_answer_data(self, page_context, code):
         from django.core.files.base import ContentFile
         saved_name = settings.RELATE_BULK_STORAGE.save(
                 self.get_submission_filename_pattern(page_context),
-                ContentFile(code))
+                ContentFile(code.encode("utf-8")))
 
         return {"storage_filename": saved_name}