diff --git a/ipalib/misc.py b/ipalib/misc.py
index a5f9b6daa..264ec298f 100644
--- a/ipalib/misc.py
+++ b/ipalib/misc.py
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ class plugins(LocalOrRemote):
             for plugin in self.api[namespace]():
                 cls = type(plugin)
                 key = '{}.{}'.format(cls.__module__, cls.__name__)
-                result.setdefault(key, []).append(namespace.decode('utf-8'))
+                result.setdefault(key, []).append(namespace)
 
         return dict(
             result=result,