diff --git a/mercurial/dispatch.py b/mercurial/dispatch.py
--- a/mercurial/dispatch.py
+++ b/mercurial/dispatch.py
@@ -1024,7 +1024,7 @@ def _checkshellalias(lui, ui, args):
     cmd = aliases[0]
     fn = entry[0]
 
-    if cmd and util.safehasattr(fn, b'shell'):
+    if cmd and util.safehasattr(fn, 'shell'):
         # shell alias shouldn't receive early options which are consumed by hg
         _earlyopts, args = _earlysplitopts(args)
         d = lambda: fn(ui, *args[1:])