--- /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages/osc/core.py.bak    2019-05-02 18:14:01.088380882 +0000
+++ /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages/osc/core.py        2019-05-02 18:14:19.204341426 +0000
@@ -6318,7 +6318,7 @@
         try:
             comment = node.find('comment').text.encode(locale.getpreferredencoding(), 'replace')
         except:
-            comment = b'<no message>'
+            comment = '<no message>'
         try:
             requestid = node.find('requestid').text.encode(locale.getpreferredencoding(), 'replace')
         except: