diff --git a/readability/readability.py b/readability/readability.py
index fc682318..117b6b8a 100755
--- a/readability/readability.py
+++ b/readability/readability.py
@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@ def transform_misused_divs_into_paragraphs(self):
             # This results in incorrect results in case there is an <img>
             # buried within an <a> for example
             if not REGEXES["divToPElementsRe"].search(
-                str_(b"".join(map(tostring, list(elem))))
+                str_("".join(map(tounicode, list(elem))))
             ):
                 # log.debug("Altering %s to p" % (describe(elem)))
                 elem.tag = "p"