diff --git a/lib/cdist/exec/local.py b/lib/cdist/exec/local.py
index b346bf7d..521d56c3 100644
--- a/lib/cdist/exec/local.py
+++ b/lib/cdist/exec/local.py
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ class Local(object):
         assert isinstance(command, (list, tuple)), "list or tuple argument expected, got: %s" % command
         self.log.debug("Local run: %s", command)
         try:
-            return subprocess.check_output(command, env=env)
+            return subprocess.check_output(command, env=env).decode()
         except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
             raise cdist.Error("Command failed: " + " ".join(command))
         except OSError as error:
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ class Local(object):
             self.log.debug("Local run script env: %s", env)
         
         try:
-            return subprocess.check_output(command, env=env)
+            return subprocess.check_output(command, env=env).decode()
         except subprocess.CalledProcessError as error:
             script_content = self.run(["cat", script])
             self.log.error("Code that raised the error:\n%s", script_content)
diff --git a/lib/cdist/exec/remote.py b/lib/cdist/exec/remote.py
index 6ec9c46f..7821e993 100644
--- a/lib/cdist/exec/remote.py
+++ b/lib/cdist/exec/remote.py
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ class Remote(object):
         assert isinstance(command, (list, tuple)), "list or tuple argument expected, got: %s" % command
         self.log.debug("Remote run: %s", command)
         try:
-            return subprocess.check_output(command, env=env)
+            return subprocess.check_output(command, env=env).decode()
         except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
             raise cdist.Error("Command failed: " + " ".join(command))
         except OSError as error:
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ class Remote(object):
             self.log.debug("Remote run script env: %s", env)
         
         try:
-            return subprocess.check_output(command, env=env)
+            return subprocess.check_output(command, env=env).decode()
         except subprocess.CalledProcessError as error:
             script_content = self.run(["cat", script])
             self.log.error("Code that raised the error:\n%s", script_content)
diff --git a/lib/cdist/test/exec/test_local.py b/lib/cdist/test/exec/test_local.py
index 40611a0b..b74f412e 100644
--- a/lib/cdist/test/exec/test_local.py
+++ b/lib/cdist/test/exec/test_local.py
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ class LocalTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         fd = open(script, "w")
         fd.writelines(["#!/bin/sh\n", "echo foobar"])
         fd.close()
-        self.assertEqual(self.local.run_script(script), b"foobar\n")
+        self.assertEqual(self.local.run_script(script), "foobar\n")
 
     def test_mkdir(self):
         temp_dir = self.mkdtemp(dir=self.temp_dir)
diff --git a/lib/cdist/test/exec/test_remote.py b/lib/cdist/test/exec/test_remote.py
index ae5e7aed..1fdb5833 100644
--- a/lib/cdist/test/exec/test_remote.py
+++ b/lib/cdist/test/exec/test_remote.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ class RemoteTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         fd = open(script, "w")
         fd.writelines(["#!/bin/sh\n", "echo foobar"])
         fd.close()
-        self.assertEqual(self.remote.run_script(script), b"foobar\n")
+        self.assertEqual(self.remote.run_script(script), "foobar\n")
 
     def test_mkdir(self):
         temp_dir = self.mkdtemp(dir=self.temp_dir)