diff --git a/beetsplug/play.py b/beetsplug/play.py
index f6a59098f..5de5dcf32 100644
--- a/beetsplug/play.py
+++ b/beetsplug/play.py
@@ -94,9 +94,9 @@ def play_music(lib, opts, args, log):
     m3u = NamedTemporaryFile('w', suffix='.m3u', delete=False)
     for item in paths:
         if relative_to:
-            m3u.write(relpath(item, relative_to) + '\n')
+            m3u.write(relpath(item, relative_to) + b'\n')
         else:
-            m3u.write(item + '\n')
+            m3u.write(item + b'\n')
     m3u.close()
 
     command.append(m3u.name)