diff --git a/esphomeyaml/espota2.py b/esphomeyaml/espota2.py
index f329c07949..d70dbb929d 100755
--- a/esphomeyaml/espota2.py
+++ b/esphomeyaml/espota2.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import time
 
 from esphomeyaml.core import EsphomeyamlError
 from esphomeyaml.helpers import resolve_ip_address, is_ip_address
-from esphomeyaml.py_compat import IS_PY2
+from esphomeyaml.py_compat import IS_PY2, char
 
 RESPONSE_OK = 0
 RESPONSE_REQUEST_AUTH = 1
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ def recv_decode(sock, amount, decode=True):
     data = sock.recv(amount)
     if not decode:
         return data
-    return [ord(x) for x in data]
+    return [char(x) for x in data]
 
 
 def receive_exactly(sock, amount, msg, expect, decode=True):
@@ -136,6 +136,8 @@ def send_check(sock, data, msg):
                 data = bytes(data)
             elif isinstance(data, int):
                 data = bytes([data])
+            elif isinstance(data, str):
+                data = data.encode('utf8')
 
         sock.sendall(data)
     except socket.error as err: