diff --git a/vcsserver/lib/_vendor/statsd/base.py b/vcsserver/lib/_vendor/statsd/base.py
--- a/vcsserver/lib/_vendor/statsd/base.py
+++ b/vcsserver/lib/_vendor/statsd/base.py
@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ from repoze.lru import lru_cache
 
 from .timer import Timer
 
-TAG_INVALID_CHARS_RE = re.compile(r"[^\w\d_\-:/\.]", re.UNICODE)
+TAG_INVALID_CHARS_RE = re.compile(
+    r"[^\w\d_\-:/\.]",
+    #re.UNICODE
+)
 TAG_INVALID_CHARS_SUBS = "_"