diff --git a/bumblebee/modules/cmus.py b/bumblebee/modules/cmus.py
index a442d55..6cd63bb 100644
--- a/bumblebee/modules/cmus.py
+++ b/bumblebee/modules/cmus.py
@@ -69,8 +69,10 @@ class Module(bumblebee.engine.Module):
         return returns.get(widget.name, self._status)
 
     def _eval_line(self, line):
-        line = line.encode("utf-8", "replace")
-        items = line.split(" ", 2)
+        # not a typo, use decode detection to see whether we are
+        # dealing with Python2 or Python3
+        if hasattr(line, "decode"):
+            line = line.encode("utf-8", "replace")
         name, key, value  = (line.split(" ", 2) + [None, None])[:3]
 
         if name == "status":