diff --git a/beetsplug/random.py b/beetsplug/random.py
index f50061bfb..57ac77e79 100644
--- a/beetsplug/random.py
+++ b/beetsplug/random.py
@@ -40,7 +40,9 @@ def random_item(lib, opts, args):
         # Group the objects by artist so we can sample from them.
         key = attrgetter('albumartist')
         objs.sort(key=key)
-        objs_by_artists = {artist: list(v) for artist, v in groupby(objs, key)}
+        objs_by_artists = {}
+        for artist, v in groupby(objs, key):
+            objs_by_artists[artist] = list(v)
 
         objs = []
         for _ in range(opts.number):
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index cec83fcbd..10da2d637 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ And some bug fixes:
 * :doc:`/plugins/scrub`: Handle and log I/O errors.
 * :doc:`/plugins/lyrics`: The Google backend should now turn up more results.
   Thanks to Fabrice Laporte.
+* :doc:`/plugins/random`: Fix compatibility with Python 2.6. Thanks to
+  Matthias Drochner.
 
 
 1.2.0 (June 5, 2013)