diff --git a/kcc/KCC_gui.py b/kcc/KCC_gui.py
index 3116656..3740699 100644
--- a/kcc/KCC_gui.py
+++ b/kcc/KCC_gui.py
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ class WorkerThread(QtCore.QThread):
                 argv.append("--forcecolor")
         for i in range(GUI.JobList.count()):
             if GUI.JobList.item(i).icon().isNull():
-                currentJobs.append(str(GUI.JobList.item(i).text()))
+                currentJobs.append(unicode(GUI.JobList.item(i).text()))
         GUI.JobList.clear()
         for job in currentJobs:
             time.sleep(0.5)
@@ -215,8 +215,8 @@ class WorkerThread(QtCore.QThread):
                         try:
                             self.kindlegenErrorCode = 0
                             if os.path.getsize(item) < 367001600:
-                                output = Popen('kindlegen -locale en "' + item + '"', stdout=PIPE, stderr=STDOUT,
-                                               shell=True)
+                                output = Popen('kindlegen -locale en "' + item.encode(sys.getfilesystemencoding()) +
+                                               '"', stdout=PIPE, stderr=STDOUT, shell=True)
                                 for line in output.stdout:
                                     # ERROR: Generic error
                                     if "Error(" in line:
@@ -312,18 +312,11 @@ class Ui_KCC(object):
             dnames = dirDialog.selectedFiles()
         else:
             dnames = ""
-        # Lame UTF-8 security measure
         for dname in dnames:
-            try:
-                str(dname)
-            except Exception:
-                QtGui.QMessageBox.critical(MainWindow, 'KCC - Error', 'Path cannot contain non-ASCII characters.',
-                                           QtGui.QMessageBox.Ok)
-                return
-            if str(dname) != "":
+            if unicode(dname) != "":
                 if sys.platform == 'win32':
                     dname = dname.replace('/', '\\')
-                self.lastPath = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(str(dname), os.pardir))
+                self.lastPath = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(unicode(dname), os.pardir))
                 GUI.JobList.addItem(dname)
 
     def selectFile(self):
@@ -344,16 +337,9 @@ class Ui_KCC(object):
             else:
                 fnames = QtGui.QFileDialog.getOpenFileNames(MainWindow, 'Select file', self.lastPath,
                                                             '*.cbz *.zip *.pdf')
-        # Lame UTF-8 security measure
         for fname in fnames:
-            try:
-                str(fname)
-            except Exception:
-                QtGui.QMessageBox.critical(MainWindow, 'KCC - Error', 'Path cannot contain non-ASCII characters.',
-                                           QtGui.QMessageBox.Ok)
-                return
-            if str(fname) != "":
-                self.lastPath = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(str(fname), os.pardir))
+            if unicode(fname) != "":
+                self.lastPath = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(unicode(fname), os.pardir))
                 GUI.JobList.addItem(fname)
 
     def clearJobs(self):
diff --git a/kcc/comic2ebook.py b/kcc/comic2ebook.py
index 4758466..e98055a 100755
--- a/kcc/comic2ebook.py
+++ b/kcc/comic2ebook.py
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ def buildNCX(dstdir, title, chapters):
                   "<meta name=\"dtb:maxPageNumber\" content=\"0\"/>\n",
                   "<meta name=\"generated\" content=\"true\"/>\n",
                   "</head>\n",
-                  "<docTitle><text>", title, "</text></docTitle>\n",
+                  "<docTitle><text>", title.encode('utf-8'), "</text></docTitle>\n",
                   "<navMap>"
                   ])
     for chapter in chapters:
@@ -192,8 +192,9 @@ def buildNCX(dstdir, title, chapters):
         if os.path.basename(folder) != "Text":
             title = os.path.basename(folder)
         filename = getImageFileName(os.path.join(folder, chapter[1]))
-        f.write("<navPoint id=\"" + folder.replace('/', '_').replace('\\', '_') + "\"><navLabel><text>" + title
-                + "</text></navLabel><content src=\"" + filename[0].replace("\\", "/") + ".html\"/></navPoint>\n")
+        f.write("<navPoint id=\"" + folder.replace('/', '_').replace('\\', '_') + "\"><navLabel><text>"
+                + title.encode('utf-8') + "</text></navLabel><content src=\"" + filename[0].replace("\\", "/")
+                + ".html\"/></navPoint>\n")
     f.write("</navMap>\n</ncx>")
     f.close()
     return
@@ -213,7 +214,7 @@ def buildOPF(dstdir, title, filelist, cover=None):
                   "xmlns=\"http://www.idpf.org/2007/opf\">\n",
                   "<metadata xmlns:opf=\"http://www.idpf.org/2007/opf\" ",
                   "xmlns:dc=\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\">\n",
-                  "<dc:title>", title, "</dc:title>\n",
+                  "<dc:title>", title.encode('utf-8'), "</dc:title>\n",
                   "<dc:language>en-US</dc:language>\n",
                   "<dc:identifier id=\"BookID\" opf:scheme=\"UUID\">", options.uuid, "</dc:identifier>\n",
                   "<dc:Creator>KCC</dc:Creator>\n",