diff --git a/comictaggerlib/issuestring.py b/comictaggerlib/issuestring.py
index 3884c51..8babf37 100644
--- a/comictaggerlib/issuestring.py
+++ b/comictaggerlib/issuestring.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ class IssueString:
 			self.suffix = ""
 			return
 			
-		self.text = str(text)
+		self.text = unicode(text)
 		#strip out non float-y stuff
 		tmp_num_str = re.sub('[^0-9.-]',"", self.text )