diff --git a/src/yunohost/service.py b/src/yunohost/service.py
index d7c3e1db0..e6e960a57 100644
--- a/src/yunohost/service.py
+++ b/src/yunohost/service.py
@@ -465,6 +465,7 @@ def _get_and_format_service_status(service, infos):
         if p.returncode == 0:
             output["configuration"] = "valid"
         else:
+            out = out.decode()
             output["configuration"] = "broken"
             output["configuration-details"] = out.strip().split("\n")