diff --git a/beetsplug/thumbnails.py b/beetsplug/thumbnails.py
index 1ea90f01e..838206156 100644
--- a/beetsplug/thumbnails.py
+++ b/beetsplug/thumbnails.py
@@ -289,4 +289,10 @@ class GioURI(URIGetter):
             raise
         finally:
             self.libgio.g_free(uri_ptr)
-        return uri
+
+        try:
+            return uri.decode(util._fsencoding())
+        except UnicodeDecodeError:
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                "Could not decode filename from GIO: {!r}".format(uri)
+            )
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 2ceed486d..7e86755fb 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ Fixes:
   ``copy`` and ``move`` options. :bug:`2444`
 * :doc:`/plugins/mbsubmit`: The tracks are now sorted. Thanks to
   :user:`awesomer`. :bug:`2457`
+* :doc:`/plugins/thumbnails`: Fix a string-related crash on Python 3.
+  :bug:`2466`
 
 
 1.4.3 (January 9, 2017)