diff --git a/bumblebee/modules/gpmdp.py b/bumblebee/modules/gpmdp.py
index ef74fbe..36988e8 100644
--- a/bumblebee/modules/gpmdp.py
+++ b/bumblebee/modules/gpmdp.py
@@ -52,13 +52,7 @@ class Module(bumblebee.engine.Module):
             status = bumblebee.util.execute("gpmdp-remote status")
         except RuntimeError:
             pass
-        try:
-            unicode_status = status.decode('utf-8')
-            unicode_info = info.decode('utf-8')
-        except AttributeError:
-            unicode_status = status
-            unicode_info = info
-        self._status = unicode_status.split("\n")[0].lower()
-        self._tags = unicode_info.split("\n")[0]
+        self._status = status.split("\n")[0].lower()
+        self._tags = info.split("\n")[0]
 
 # vim: tabstop=8 expandtab shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4
diff --git a/bumblebee/util.py b/bumblebee/util.py
index 0e85184..9efa146 100644
--- a/bumblebee/util.py
+++ b/bumblebee/util.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
 import shlex
 import logging
 import subprocess
@@ -18,11 +20,13 @@ def execute(cmd, wait=True):
         out, _ = proc.communicate()
         if proc.returncode != 0:
             raise RuntimeError("{} exited with {}".format(cmd, proc.returncode))
-        if type(out) == str:
-            rv = out
-        else:
+
+        if hasattr(out, "decode"):
             rv = out.decode("utf-8")
-    logging.info("command returned '{}'".format("" if not rv else rv))
+        else:
+            rv = out
+
+    logging.info(u"command returned '{}'".format("" if not rv else rv))
     return rv
 
 def bytefmt(num):