diff --git a/openerp/addons/base/ir/ir_qweb.py b/openerp/addons/base/ir/ir_qweb.py
index 918f54f8bc5..741f8d45b84 100644
--- a/openerp/addons/base/ir/ir_qweb.py
+++ b/openerp/addons/base/ir/ir_qweb.py
@@ -302,9 +302,9 @@ class QWeb(orm.AbstractModel):
         # qwebcontext: values
         # inner: optional innerXml
         if inner:
-            g_inner = inner
+            g_inner = inner.encode('utf-8') if isinstance(inner, unicode) else inner
         else:
-            g_inner = [] if element.text is None else [element.text]
+            g_inner = [] if element.text is None else [element.text.encode('utf-8')]
             for current_node in element.iterchildren(tag=etree.Element):
                 try:
                     g_inner.append(self.render_node(current_node, qwebcontext))