diff --git a/beetsplug/smartplaylist.py b/beetsplug/smartplaylist.py
index 98092952e..1ccb37030 100644
--- a/beetsplug/smartplaylist.py
+++ b/beetsplug/smartplaylist.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from __future__ import division, absolute_import, print_function
 
 from beets.plugins import BeetsPlugin
 from beets import ui
-from beets.util import mkdirall, normpath, syspath
+from beets.util import mkdirall, normpath, syspath, bytestring_path
 from beets.library import Item, Album, parse_query_string
 from beets.dbcore import OrQuery
 from beets.dbcore.query import MultipleSort, ParsingError
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ class SmartPlaylistPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
                        len(self._matched_playlists))
 
         playlist_dir = self.config['playlist_dir'].as_filename()
+        playlist_dir = bytestring_path(playlist_dir)
         relative_to = self.config['relative_to'].get()
         if relative_to:
             relative_to = normpath(relative_to)
@@ -194,9 +195,11 @@ class SmartPlaylistPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
                     m3us[m3u_name].append(item_path)
             # Now iterate through the m3us that we need to generate
             for m3u in m3us:
-                m3u_path = normpath(os.path.join(playlist_dir, m3u))
+                m3u_path = normpath(os.path.join(playlist_dir,
+                                    bytestring_path(m3u)))
                 mkdirall(m3u_path)
                 with open(syspath(m3u_path), 'wb') as f:
                     for path in m3us[m3u]:
                         f.write(path + b'\n')
+
         self._log.info(u"{0} playlists updated", len(self._matched_playlists))
diff --git a/test/test_smartplaylist.py b/test/test_smartplaylist.py
index dd8d7ca36..2f0f261d7 100644
--- a/test/test_smartplaylist.py
+++ b/test/test_smartplaylist.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ from beetsplug.smartplaylist import SmartPlaylistPlugin
 from beets.library import Item, Album, parse_query_string
 from beets.dbcore import OrQuery
 from beets.dbcore.query import NullSort, MultipleSort, FixedFieldSort
-from beets.util import syspath
+from beets.util import syspath, bytestring_path
 from beets.ui import UserError
 from beets import config
 
@@ -156,10 +156,10 @@ class SmartPlaylistTest(unittest.TestCase):
         lib = Mock()
         lib.items.return_value = [i]
         lib.albums.return_value = []
-        pl = 'my_playlist.m3u', (q, None), (a_q, None)
+        pl = b'my_playlist.m3u', (q, None), (a_q, None)
         spl._matched_playlists = [pl]
 
-        dir = mkdtemp()
+        dir = bytestring_path(mkdtemp())
         config['smartplaylist']['relative_to'] = False
         config['smartplaylist']['playlist_dir'] = dir
         try:
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ class SmartPlaylistTest(unittest.TestCase):
             content = f.read()
         rmtree(dir)
 
-        self.assertEqual(content, "/tagada.mp3\n")
+        self.assertEqual(content, b'/tagada.mp3\n')
 
 
 class SmartPlaylistCLITest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ class SmartPlaylistCLITest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
             self.run_with_output(u'splupdate', u'tagada')
 
         self.run_with_output(u'splupdate', u'my_playlist')
-        m3u_path = path.join(self.temp_dir, 'my_playlist.m3u')
+        m3u_path = path.join(self.temp_dir, b'my_playlist.m3u')
         self.assertTrue(path.exists(m3u_path))
         with open(m3u_path, 'rb') as f:
             self.assertEqual(f.read(), self.item.path + b"\n")
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ class SmartPlaylistCLITest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
         remove(m3u_path)
 
         self.run_with_output(u'splupdate')
-        for name in (u'my_playlist.m3u', u'all.m3u'):
+        for name in (b'my_playlist.m3u', b'all.m3u'):
             with open(path.join(self.temp_dir, name), 'rb') as f:
                 self.assertEqual(f.read(), self.item.path + b"\n")