diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_ps.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_ps.py
index d2e8bc4c7e1e..7be6b3975eff 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_ps.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_ps.py
@@ -764,7 +764,7 @@ def draw_text(self, gc, x, y, s, prop, angle, ismath=False, mtext=None):
             except KeyError:
                 ps_name = sfnt[(3,1,0x0409,6)].decode(
                     'utf-16be')
-            ps_name = ps_name.encode('ascii', 'replace')
+            ps_name = ps_name.encode('ascii', 'replace').decode('ascii')
             self.set_font(ps_name, prop.get_size_in_points())
 
             cmap = font.get_charmap()