diff --git a/headphones/webserve.py b/headphones/webserve.py
index 8722cc38..eacabfaa 100644
--- a/headphones/webserve.py
+++ b/headphones/webserve.py
@@ -427,9 +427,9 @@ class WebInterface(object):
             myDB = db.DBConnection()
             for artist in args:
                 myDB.action('DELETE FROM newartists WHERE ArtistName=?',
-                            [artist.decode(headphones.SYS_ENCODING, 'replace')])
+                            [artist])
                 myDB.action('UPDATE have SET Matched="Ignored" WHERE ArtistName=?',
-                            [artist.decode(headphones.SYS_ENCODING, 'replace')])
+                            [artist])
                 logger.info("Artist %s removed from new artist list and set to ignored" % artist)
         raise cherrypy.HTTPRedirect("home")