---
 sphinxcontrib/autohttp/__init__.py   |   19 +++++++++++++++++++
 sphinxcontrib/autohttp/bottle.py     |    5 ++++-
 sphinxcontrib/autohttp/flask.py      |    5 ++++-
 sphinxcontrib/autohttp/flask_base.py |    5 ++++-
 sphinxcontrib/autohttp/tornado.py    |    5 ++++-
 5 files changed, 35 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

--- a/sphinxcontrib/autohttp/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/autohttp/__init__.py
@@ -9,3 +9,22 @@
     :license: BSD, see LICENSE for details.
 
 """
+
+# Taken from gh#sphinx-doc/sphinx#9326
+def force_decode(string: str, encoding: str) -> str:
+    """Forcibly get a unicode string out of a bytestring."""
+    warnings.warn('force_decode() is deprecated.',
+                  RemovedInSphinx50Warning, stacklevel=2)
+    if isinstance(string, bytes):
+        try:
+            if encoding:
+                string = string.decode(encoding)
+            else:
+                # try decoding with utf-8, should only work for real UTF-8
+                string = string.decode()
+        except UnicodeError:
+            # last resort -- can't fail
+            string = string.decode('latin1')
+    return string
+
+
--- a/sphinxcontrib/autohttp/bottle.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/autohttp/bottle.py
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@ from docutils import nodes
 from docutils.parsers.rst import directives, Directive
 from docutils.statemachine import ViewList
 
-from sphinx.util import force_decode
+try:
+    from sphinx.util import force_decode
+except ImportError:
+    from . import force_decode
 from sphinx.util.nodes import nested_parse_with_titles
 from sphinx.util.docstrings import prepare_docstring
 from sphinx.pycode import ModuleAnalyzer
--- a/sphinxcontrib/autohttp/flask.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/autohttp/flask.py
@@ -19,7 +19,10 @@ from docutils import nodes
 from docutils.parsers.rst import directives, Directive
 from docutils.statemachine import ViewList
 
-from sphinx.util import force_decode
+try:
+    from sphinx.util import force_decode
+except ImportError:
+    from . import force_decode
 from sphinx.util.nodes import nested_parse_with_titles
 from sphinx.util.docstrings import prepare_docstring
 from sphinx.pycode import ModuleAnalyzer
--- a/sphinxcontrib/autohttp/flask_base.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/autohttp/flask_base.py
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@ import collections
 
 from docutils.parsers.rst import directives, Directive
 
-from sphinx.util import force_decode
+try:
+    from sphinx.util import force_decode
+except ImportError:
+    from . import force_decode
 from sphinx.util.docstrings import prepare_docstring
 from sphinx.pycode import ModuleAnalyzer
 
--- a/sphinxcontrib/autohttp/tornado.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/autohttp/tornado.py
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ from docutils import nodes
 from docutils.parsers.rst import directives, Directive
 from docutils.statemachine import ViewList
 
-from sphinx.util import force_decode
+try:
+    from sphinx.util import force_decode
+except ImportError:
+    from . import force_decode
 from sphinx.util.nodes import nested_parse_with_titles
 from sphinx.util.docstrings import prepare_docstring
 from sphinx.pycode import ModuleAnalyzer