diff --git a/youtube_dl/utils.py b/youtube_dl/utils.py
index b66485f5a..d9a22f7cd 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/utils.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/utils.py
@@ -866,6 +866,8 @@ class YoutubeDLHandler(compat_urllib_request.HTTPHandler):
                 location_escaped = escape_url(location)
                 if location != location_escaped:
                     del resp.headers['Location']
+                    if sys.version_info < (3, 0):
+                        location_escaped = location_escaped.encode('utf-8')
                     resp.headers['Location'] = location_escaped
         return resp