diff --git a/src/allmydata/web/storage.py b/src/allmydata/web/storage.py
index cf3264dac..51624a409 100644
--- a/src/allmydata/web/storage.py
+++ b/src/allmydata/web/storage.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from future.utils import PY2
 
 import time, json
 from twisted.python.filepath import FilePath
@@ -317,4 +318,7 @@ class StorageStatus(MultiFormatResource):
              "lease-checker": self._storage.lease_checker.get_state(),
              "lease-checker-progress": self._storage.lease_checker.get_progress(),
              }
-        return json.dumps(d, indent=1) + "\n"
+        result = json.dumps(d, indent=1) + "\n"
+        if PY2:
+            result = result.decode("utf-8")
+        return result.encode("utf-8")