diff --git a/pelican/tools/pelican_import.py b/pelican/tools/pelican_import.py
index ab7e4ae6..0721666a 100755
--- a/pelican/tools/pelican_import.py
+++ b/pelican/tools/pelican_import.py
@@ -774,7 +774,7 @@ def fields2pelican(
 def is_pandoc2_installed():
     cmd = ['pandoc', '--version']
     try:
-        output = subprocess.check_output(cmd)
+        output = subprocess.check_output(cmd).decode('utf-8')
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
         return None