diff --git a/src/pyfmi/fmi.pyx b/src/pyfmi/fmi.pyx
index d30de5f..8ca80e4 100644
--- a/src/pyfmi/fmi.pyx
+++ b/src/pyfmi/fmi.pyx
@@ -1164,7 +1164,7 @@ cdef class FMUModelBase(ModelBase):
 
         fmu_full_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(path,fmu))
         if _unzipped_dir:
-            fmu_temp_dir = encode(_unzipped_dir)
+            fmu_temp_dir  = _unzipped_dir
         else:
             fmu_temp_dir  = encode(create_temp_dir())
         self._fmu_temp_dir = <char*>FMIL.malloc((FMIL.strlen(fmu_temp_dir)+1)*sizeof(char))
@@ -3758,7 +3758,7 @@ cdef class FMUModelBase2(ModelBase):
 
         #Get the FMI version of the provided model
         if _unzipped_dir:
-            fmu_temp_dir  = encode(_unzipped_dir)
+            fmu_temp_dir  = _unzipped_dir
         else:
             fmu_temp_dir  = encode(create_temp_dir())
         self._fmu_temp_dir = <char*>FMIL.malloc((FMIL.strlen(fmu_temp_dir)+1)*sizeof(char))