diff --git a/dynamicweb/settings/ldap_max_uid_file b/dynamicweb/settings/ldap_max_uid_file
index 4c2a2049..78f6c9e8 100644
--- a/dynamicweb/settings/ldap_max_uid_file
+++ b/dynamicweb/settings/ldap_max_uid_file
@@ -1 +1 @@
-10178
\ No newline at end of file
+10185
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/membership/models.py b/membership/models.py
index ea761d99..3d15fd42 100644
--- a/membership/models.py
+++ b/membership/models.py
@@ -82,8 +82,9 @@ def assign_username(user):
 
         # Try to come up with a username
         first_name, last_name = get_first_and_last_name(user.name)
-        user.username = first_name.lower() + last_name.lower()
-        user.username = "".join(user.username.split())
+        user.username = first_name + last_name
+        user.username = "".join(user.username.split()).lower()
+        user.username = "".join([char for char in user.username if char.isalnum()])
 
         exist = True
         while exist:
@@ -91,14 +92,14 @@ def assign_username(user):
             exist, entries = ldap_manager.check_user_exists(user.username)
             if exist:
                 # If username exists in ldap, come up with a new user name and check it again
-                user.username = user.username + str(random.randint(0, 2 ** 50))
+                user.username = user.username + str(random.randint(0, 2 ** 10))
             else:
                 # If username does not exists in ldap, try to save it in database
                 try:
                     user.save()
                 except IntegrityError:
                     # If username exists in database then come up with a new username
-                    user.username = user.username + str(random.randint(0, 2 ** 50))
+                    user.username = user.username + str(random.randint(0, 2 ** 10))
 
 
 class CustomUser(AbstractBaseUser, PermissionsMixin):
diff --git a/utils/ldap_manager.py b/utils/ldap_manager.py
index 602bf6f2..ee16937d 100644
--- a/utils/ldap_manager.py
+++ b/utils/ldap_manager.py
@@ -88,23 +88,23 @@ class LdapManager:
         logger.debug("{uid} does not exist. Using it".format(uid=uidNumber))
         self._set_max_uid(uidNumber)
         try:
-            uid = user
+            uid = user.encode("utf-8")
             conn.add("uid={uid},{customer_dn}".format(
                     uid=uid, customer_dn=settings.LDAP_CUSTOMER_DN
                 ),
                 ["inetOrgPerson", "posixAccount", "ldapPublickey"],
                 {
                     "uid": [uid],
-                    "sn": [lastname],
-                    "givenName": [firstname],
+                    "sn": [lastname.encode("utf-8")],
+                    "givenName": [firstname.encode("utf-8")],
                     "cn": [uid],
-                    "displayName": ["{} {}".format(firstname, lastname)],
+                    "displayName": ["{} {}".format(firstname, lastname).encode("utf-8")],
                     "uidNumber": [str(uidNumber)],
                     "gidNumber": [str(settings.LDAP_CUSTOMER_GROUP_ID)],
                     "loginShell": ["/bin/bash"],
-                    "homeDirectory": ["/home/{}".format(user)],
-                    "mail": email,
-                    "userPassword": [password]
+                    "homeDirectory": ["/home/{}".format(user).encode("utf-8")],
+                    "mail": email.encode("utf-8"),
+                    "userPassword": [password.encode("utf-8")]
                 }
             )
             logger.debug('Created user %s %s' % (user.encode('utf-8'),
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ class LdapManager:
                     {
                         "userpassword": (
                             ldap3.MODIFY_REPLACE,
-                            [new_password]
+                            [new_password.encode("utf-8")]
                         )
                     }
                 )
@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@ class LdapManager:
         conn.unbind()
         return return_val
 
+
     def change_user_details(self, uid, details):
         """
         Updates the user details as per given values in kwargs of the user