diff --git a/master.cfg b/master.cfg
index 5ad1079..90c6fbc 100644
--- a/master.cfg
+++ b/master.cfg
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ def SendRootMessageGDBTesters (branch, change):
     text += '\n'.join (change.comments.split ('\n')[1:])
 
     chg_title = change.comments.split ('\n')[0]
+    text = text.decode ('ascii', 'ignore')
     mail = MIMEText (text)
     if branch == 'master':
         sbj = "[binutils-gdb] %s" % chg_title