diff --git a/beetsplug/hook.py b/beetsplug/hook.py
index 833f0feaa..b6270fd50 100644
--- a/beetsplug/hook.py
+++ b/beetsplug/hook.py
@@ -64,10 +64,8 @@ class CodingFormatter(string.Formatter):
         converted = super(CodingFormatter, self).convert_field(value,
                                                                conversion)
 
-        try:
-            converted = converted.decode(self._coding)
-        except UnicodeEncodeError:
-            pass
+        if isinstance(converted, bytes):
+            return converted.decode(self._coding)
 
         return converted
 
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index d20bc86f6..fe19403f0 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ New features:
 
 Fixes:
 
+* :doc:`/plugins/hook`: Fixed a problem whereby accessing non-string properties of
+  objects such as item or album (e.g. item.track) would cause a crash.
+  Thanks to :user:`broddo`.
+  :bug:`2740`
 * :doc:`/plugins/play`: When ``relative_to`` is set, correctly emit relative paths
   even when querying for albums rather than tracks.
   Thanks to :user:`j000`.