Index: django/utils/encoding.py
===================================================================
--- django/utils/encoding.py	(revision 5620)
+++ django/utils/encoding.py	(working copy)
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
         if hasattr(s, '__unicode__'):
             s = unicode(s)
         else:
-            s = unicode(str(s), encoding, errors)
+            s = unicode(smart_str(s), encoding, errors)
     elif not isinstance(s, unicode):
         s = unicode(s, encoding, errors)
     return s