diff --git a/searx/webapp.py b/searx/webapp.py
index 371fb2a3..abbbce95 100644
--- a/searx/webapp.py
+++ b/searx/webapp.py
@@ -88,6 +88,9 @@ except:
 
 if sys.version_info[0] == 3:
     unicode = str
+    PY3 = True
+else:
+    PY3 = False
 
 # serve pages with HTTP/1.1
 from werkzeug.serving import WSGIRequestHandler
@@ -605,7 +608,10 @@ def autocompleter():
     disabled_engines = request.preferences.engines.get_disabled()
 
     # parse query
-    raw_text_query = RawTextQuery(request.form.get('q', u'').encode('utf-8'), disabled_engines)
+    if PY3:
+        raw_text_query = RawTextQuery(request.form.get('q', b''), disabled_engines)
+    else:
+        raw_text_query = RawTextQuery(request.form.get('q', u'').encode('utf-8'), disabled_engines)
     raw_text_query.parse_query()
 
     # check if search query is set