diff --git a/extra/release.py b/extra/release.py
index 1d3b7eed5..ce3099a69 100755
--- a/extra/release.py
+++ b/extra/release.py
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ VERSION_LOCS = [
         os.path.join(BASE, 'beets', '__init__.py'),
         [
             (
-                r'__version__\s*=\s*[\'"]([0-9\.]+)[\'"]',
-                "__version__ = '{version}'",
+                r'__version__\s*=\s*u[\'"]([0-9\.]+)[\'"]',
+                "__version__ = u'{version}'",
             )
         ]
     ),