diff --git a/anki/importing/csvfile.py b/anki/importing/csvfile.py
index 0a8928628..7c7ae6fc9 100644
--- a/anki/importing/csvfile.py
+++ b/anki/importing/csvfile.py
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ class TextImporter(NoteImporter):
         self.data = [sub(x)+"\n" for x in self.data.split("\n") if sub(x) != "__comment"]
         if self.data:
             if self.data[0].startswith("tags:"):
-                tags = str(self.data[0][5:], "utf8").strip()
+                tags = str(self.data[0][5:]).strip()
                 self.tagsToAdd = tags.split(" ")
                 del self.data[0]
             self.updateDelimiter()