diff --git a/IPython/frontend/qt/svg.py b/IPython/frontend/qt/svg.py
index 8081dca..01cb41f 100644
--- a/IPython/frontend/qt/svg.py
+++ b/IPython/frontend/qt/svg.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ def save_svg(string, parent=None):
         filename = dialog.selectedFiles()[0]
         f = open(filename, 'w')
         try:
-            f.write(string)
+            f.write(string.encode('UTF-8'))
         finally:
             f.close()
         return filename