diff --git a/kallithea/lib/db_manage.py b/kallithea/lib/db_manage.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/db_manage.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/db_manage.py
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@ class DbManage(object):
     def create_user(self, username, password, email='', admin=False):
         log.info('creating user %s', username)
         UserModel().create_or_update(username, password, email,
-                                     firstname='Kallithea', lastname='Admin',
+                                     firstname=u'Kallithea', lastname=u'Admin',
                                      active=True, admin=admin,
                                      extern_type=EXTERN_TYPE_INTERNAL)
 
@@ -532,8 +532,8 @@ class DbManage(object):
         user = UserModel().create_or_update(username=User.DEFAULT_USER,
                                             password=str(uuid.uuid1())[:20],
                                             email='anonymous@kallithea-scm.org',
-                                            firstname='Anonymous',
-                                            lastname='User')
+                                            firstname=u'Anonymous',
+                                            lastname=u'User')
         # based on configuration options activate/deactivate this user which
         # controls anonymous access
         if self.cli_args.get('public_access') is False:
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/utils.py b/kallithea/lib/utils.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/utils.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/utils.py
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ def action_logger(user, action, repo, ip
         repo_obj = Repository.get_by_repo_name(repo_name)
     else:
         repo_obj = None
-        repo_name = ''
+        repo_name = u''
 
     user_log = UserLog()
     user_log.user_id = user_obj.user_id
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ def map_groups(path):
     rgm = RepoGroupModel(sa)
     owner = User.get_first_admin()
     for lvl, group_name in enumerate(groups):
-        group_name = '/'.join(groups[:lvl] + [group_name])
+        group_name = u'/'.join(groups[:lvl] + [group_name])
         group = RepoGroup.get_by_group_name(group_name)
         desc = '%s group' % group_name
 
diff --git a/kallithea/model/user.py b/kallithea/model/user.py
--- a/kallithea/model/user.py
+++ b/kallithea/model/user.py
@@ -100,8 +100,8 @@ class UserModel(BaseModel):
         log_create_user(new_user.get_dict(), cur_user)
         return new_user
 
-    def create_or_update(self, username, password, email, firstname='',
-                         lastname='', active=True, admin=False,
+    def create_or_update(self, username, password, email, firstname=u'',
+                         lastname=u'', active=True, admin=False,
                          extern_type=None, extern_name=None, cur_user=None):
         """
         Creates a new instance if not found, or updates current one
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ class UserModel(BaseModel):
         # notification to admins
         subject = _('New user registration')
         body = (
-            'New user registration\n'
+            u'New user registration\n'
             '---------------------\n'
             '- Username: {user.username}\n'
             '- Full Name: {user.full_name}\n'
diff --git a/kallithea/model/user_group.py b/kallithea/model/user_group.py
--- a/kallithea/model/user_group.py
+++ b/kallithea/model/user_group.py
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ class UserGroupModel(BaseModel):
         for gr in set(groups):
             existing_group = UserGroup.get_by_group_name(gr)
             if not existing_group:
-                desc = 'Automatically created from plugin:%s' % extern_type
+                desc = u'Automatically created from plugin:%s' % extern_type
                 # we use first admin account to set the owner of the group
                 existing_group = UserGroupModel().create(gr, desc, owner,
                                         group_data={'extern_type': extern_type})