diff --git a/src/gam.py b/src/gam.py
index c91c01e0..ff101355 100755
--- a/src/gam.py
+++ b/src/gam.py
@@ -3622,6 +3622,8 @@ def doCancelPrintJob():
   print('Print Job %s cancelled' % job)
 
 def checkCloudPrintResult(result):
+  if isinstance(result, bytes):
+    result = result.decode(UTF8)
   if isinstance(result, str):
     try:
       result = json.loads(result)
@@ -5741,7 +5743,8 @@ def addSmime(users):
     myarg = sys.argv[i].lower()
     if myarg == 'file':
       smimefile = sys.argv[i+1]
-      body['pkcs12'] = base64.urlsafe_b64encode(readFile(smimefile, mode='rb'))
+      smimeData = readFile(smimefile, mode='rb')
+      body['pkcs12'] = base64.urlsafe_b64encode(smimeData).decode(UTF8)
       i += 2
     elif myarg == 'password':
       body['encryptedKeyPassword'] = sys.argv[i+1]