diff --git a/master.cfg b/master.cfg
index cf43d15..5d7775c 100644
--- a/master.cfg
+++ b/master.cfg
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ subsequent commits are made after X, by different people."""
     open (lockfile, 'w').close ()
 
     rev = change.revision
-    to = change.who
+    to = change.who.encode ('ascii', 'ignore').decode ('ascii')
     title = change.comments.split ('\n')[0]
 
     sbj = 'Your commit \'%s\' broke GDB' % title