diff --git a/beetsplug/badfiles.py b/beetsplug/badfiles.py
index 64b75ee3b..368b6eba0 100644
--- a/beetsplug/badfiles.py
+++ b/beetsplug/badfiles.py
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ class BadFiles(BeetsPlugin):
                     ui.colorize('text_error', dpath)))
 
             # Run the checker against the file if one is found
-            ext = os.path.splitext(item.path)[1][1:]
+            ext = os.path.splitext(item.path)[1][1:].decode('utf8', 'ignore')
             checker = self.get_checker(ext)
             if not checker:
                 self._log.debug(u"no checker available for {}", ext)
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 3ab7940e2..50a2ad518 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ Fixes:
 * :doc:`/plugins/mpdstats`: Fix Python 3 compatibility. The plugin also now
   requires version 0.4.2 or later of the ``python-mpd2`` library. :bug:`2405`
 * :doc:`/plugins/mpdstats`: Improve handling of mpd status queries.
+* :doc:`/plugins/badfiles`: Fix Python 3 compatibility.
 
 
 1.4.3 (January 9, 2017)