diff --git a/pelican/urlwrappers.py b/pelican/urlwrappers.py
index 7659471d..ea4aaeb7 100644
--- a/pelican/urlwrappers.py
+++ b/pelican/urlwrappers.py
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ class URLWrapper(object):
 
         """
         setting = "%s_%s" % (self.__class__.__name__.upper(), key)
-        value = self.settings[setting]
+        value = unicode(self.settings[setting])
         if not isinstance(value, six.string_types):
             logger.warning('%s is set to %s', setting, value)
             return value