diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_cairo.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_cairo.py
index 8c46277bbcb9..952b879d2c7e 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_cairo.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_cairo.py
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ def draw_text(self, gc, x, y, s, prop, angle, ismath=False, mtext=None):
                 if not isinstance(s, six.text_type):
                     s = six.text_type(s)
             else:
-                if isinstance(s, six.text_type):
+                if not six.PY3 and isinstance(s, six.text_type):
                     s = s.encode("utf-8")
 
             ctx.show_text(s)