diff --git a/gramps/gui/views/treemodels/flatbasemodel.py b/gramps/gui/views/treemodels/flatbasemodel.py
index ef371bc88..1a85cd1b3 100644
--- a/gramps/gui/views/treemodels/flatbasemodel.py
+++ b/gramps/gui/views/treemodels/flatbasemodel.py
@@ -252,6 +252,8 @@ class FlatNodeMap(object):
         :param type: an object handle
         :Returns: the path, or None if handle does not link to a path
         """
+        if isinstance(handle, UNITYPE):
+            handle = handle.encode('utf-8')
         index = self._hndl2index.get(handle)
         if index is None:
             return None
diff --git a/gramps/gui/views/treemodels/treebasemodel.py b/gramps/gui/views/treemodels/treebasemodel.py
index 60852bdda..91d568434 100644
--- a/gramps/gui/views/treemodels/treebasemodel.py
+++ b/gramps/gui/views/treemodels/treebasemodel.py
@@ -848,6 +848,8 @@ class TreeBaseModel(GObject.Object, Gtk.TreeModel):
         """
         Get the node for a handle.
         """
+        if isinstance(handle, UNITYPE):
+            handle = handle.encode('utf-8')
         return self.handle2node.get(handle)
 
     def handle2path(self, handle):