diff --git a/dr_botzo/twitter/ircplugin.py b/dr_botzo/twitter/ircplugin.py
index 3de54b8..94057cb 100644
--- a/dr_botzo/twitter/ircplugin.py
+++ b/dr_botzo/twitter/ircplugin.py
@@ -236,18 +236,18 @@ class Twitter(Plugin):
         retweet = getattr(tweet, 'retweeted_status', None)
         if retweet:
             if print_source:
-                reply = "@%s (RT @%s): %s" % (tweet['user']['screen_name'].encode('utf-8', 'ignore'),
-                                              retweet['user']['screen_name'].encode('utf-8', 'ignore'),
-                                              self._unencode_xml(retweet['text'].encode('utf-8', 'ignore')))
+                reply = "@%s (RT @%s): %s" % (tweet['user']['screen_name'],
+                                              retweet['user']['screen_name'],
+                                              self._unencode_xml(retweet['text']))
             else:
-                reply = "(RT @%s): %s" % (retweet['user']['screen_name'].encode('utf-8', 'ignore'),
-                                          self._unencode_xml(retweet['text'].encode('utf-8', 'ignore')))
+                reply = "(RT @%s): %s" % (retweet['user']['screen_name'],
+                                          self._unencode_xml(retweet['text']))
         else:
             if print_source:
-                reply = "@%s: %s" % (tweet['user']['screen_name'].encode('utf-8', 'ignore'),
-                                     self._unencode_xml(tweet['text'].encode('utf-8', 'ignore')))
+                reply = "@%s: %s" % (tweet['user']['screen_name'],
+                                     self._unencode_xml(tweet['text']))
             else:
-                reply = "%s" % (self._unencode_xml(tweet['text'].encode('utf-8', 'ignore')))
+                reply = "%s" % (self._unencode_xml(tweet['text']))
 
         if print_id:
             reply = reply + " [{0:d}]".format(tweet['id'])