diff --git a/py-src/ltmain.py b/py-src/ltmain.py
index e07f173..8c11b96 100644
--- a/py-src/ltmain.py
+++ b/py-src/ltmain.py
@@ -47,9 +47,9 @@ def asUnicode(s):
     return str(s)
 
 def ensureUtf(s):
-  if type(s) == unicode:
+  try:
     return s.encode('utf8', 'ignore')
-  else:
+  except:
     return str(s)
 
 def findLoc(body, line, total):