diff --git a/beets/importer/tasks.py b/beets/importer/tasks.py
index 356e6b5fc..43312e943 100644
--- a/beets/importer/tasks.py
+++ b/beets/importer/tasks.py
@@ -1094,7 +1094,7 @@ class ImportTaskFactory:
                 )
 
     def check_extension(self, path: util.PathBytes):
-        path = Path(path.decode("utf-8"))
+        path = Path(os.fsdecode(path))
         # if there is an extension, ignore
         if path.suffix != "":
             return path