diff --git a/osc/conf.py b/osc/conf.py
index 14e201a8..4cbfd9ea 100644
--- a/osc/conf.py
+++ b/osc/conf.py
@@ -119,6 +119,12 @@ class Password(collections.UserString):
             return f"{self.__str__():{format_spec}}"
         return super().__format__(format_spec)
 
+    def encode(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        if sys.version_info < (3, 8):
+            # avoid returning the Password object on python < 3.8
+            return str(self).encode(*args, **kwargs)
+        return super().encode(*args, **kwargs)
+
 
 HttpHeader = NewType("HttpHeader", Tuple[str, str])
 
diff --git a/tests/test_credentials.py b/tests/test_credentials.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fd5749f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_credentials.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import unittest
+
+import osc.conf
+from osc.credentials import ObfuscatedConfigFileCredentialsManager
+
+
+class TestObfuscatedConfigFileCredentialsManager(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_decode_password(self):
+        # obfuscated "opensuse"
+        password_str = "QlpoOTFBWSZTWeTSblkAAAGBgAIBygAgADDACGNEHxaYXckU4UJDk0m5ZA=="
+        password = osc.conf.Password(password_str)
+        decoded = ObfuscatedConfigFileCredentialsManager.decode_password(password)
+        self.assertEqual(decoded, "opensuse")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()