diff --git a/lib/common/agents.py b/lib/common/agents.py
index effbd37..4491e34 100644
--- a/lib/common/agents.py
+++ b/lib/common/agents.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ handle_agent_data() is the main function that should be used by external listene
 Most methods utilize self.lock to deal with the concurreny issue of kicking off threaded listeners.
 
 """
-
+# -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-
 import os
 import json
 import string
@@ -1291,18 +1291,18 @@ class Agents:
 
                 dispatcher.send("[!] Nonce verified: agent %s posted valid sysinfo checkin format: %s" % (sessionID, message), sender='Agents')
 
-                # listener = parts[1].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                domainname = parts[2].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                username = parts[3].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                hostname = parts[4].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                external_ip = clientIP.encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                internal_ip = parts[5].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                os_details = parts[6].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                high_integrity = parts[7].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                process_name = parts[8].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                process_id = parts[9].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                language = parts[10].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                language_version = parts[11].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
+                listener = unicode(parts[1], 'utf-8')
+                domainname = unicode(parts[2], 'utf-8')
+                username = unicode(parts[3], 'utf-8')
+                hostname = unicode(parts[4], 'utf-8')
+                external_ip = unicode(clientIP, 'utf-8')
+                internal_ip = unicode(parts[5], 'utf-8')
+                os_details = unicode(parts[6], 'utf-8')
+                high_integrity = unicode(parts[7], 'utf-8')
+                process_name = unicode(parts[8], 'utf-8')
+                process_id = unicode(parts[9], 'utf-8')
+                language = unicode(parts[10], 'utf-8')
+                language_version = unicode(parts[11], 'utf-8')
                 if high_integrity == "True":
                     high_integrity = 1
                 else:
@@ -1529,17 +1529,17 @@ class Agents:
             else:
                 print "sysinfo:",data
                 # extract appropriate system information
-                listener = parts[1].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                domainname = parts[2].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                username = parts[3].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                hostname = parts[4].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                internal_ip = parts[5].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                os_details = parts[6].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                high_integrity = parts[7].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                process_name = parts[8].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                process_id = parts[9].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                language = parts[10].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                language_version = parts[11].encode('ascii', 'ignore')
+                listener = unicode(parts[1], 'utf-8')
+                domainname = unicode(parts[2], 'utf-8')
+                username = unicode(parts[3], 'utf-8')
+                hostname = unicode(parts[4], 'utf-8')
+                internal_ip = unicode(parts[5], 'utf-8')
+                os_details = unicode(parts[6], 'utf-8')
+                high_integrity = unicode(parts[7], 'utf-8')
+                process_name = unicode(parts[8], 'utf-8')
+                process_id = unicode(parts[9], 'utf-8')
+                language = unicode(parts[10], 'utf-8')
+                language_version = unicode(parts[11], 'utf-8')
                 if high_integrity == 'True':
                     high_integrity = 1
                 else: