diff --git a/addons/mail/mail_template.py b/addons/mail/mail_template.py
index 1209d2c38bb3069d8aee48c437adab2b2d22fa96..7d4ecd6ba89161e687004e7a3006b9b2f996e652 100644
--- a/addons/mail/mail_template.py
+++ b/addons/mail/mail_template.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ def format_tz(pool, cr, uid, dt, tz=False, format=False, context=None):
         format_time = lang_params.get("time_format", '%I-%M %p')
 
         fdate = ts.strftime(format_date).decode('utf-8')
-        ftime = ts.strftime(format_time)
+        ftime = ts.strftime(format_time).decode('utf-8')
         return "%s %s%s" % (fdate, ftime, (' (%s)' % tz) if tz else '')
 
 try: