diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/course.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/course.py
index 0b596ec95f..0c6dbf5331 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/course.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/course.py
@@ -1350,6 +1350,8 @@ def validate_textbooks_json(text):
     """
     Validate the given text as representing a single PDF textbook
     """
+    if isinstance(text, (bytes, bytearray)):  # data appears as bytes
+        text = text.decode('utf-8')
     try:
         textbooks = json.loads(text)
     except ValueError:
@@ -1370,6 +1372,8 @@ def validate_textbook_json(textbook):
     """
     Validate the given text as representing a list of PDF textbooks
     """
+    if isinstance(textbook, (bytes, bytearray)):  # data appears as bytes
+        textbook = textbook.decode('utf-8')
     if isinstance(textbook, six.string_types):
         try:
             textbook = json.loads(textbook)
diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/tests/test_textbooks.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/tests/test_textbooks.py
index 53f6b8487d..036ebcf681 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/tests/test_textbooks.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/tests/test_textbooks.py
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ class TextbookDetailTestCase(CourseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 201)
         resp2 = self.client.get(url)
         self.assertEqual(resp2.status_code, 200)
-        compare = json.loads(resp2.content)
+        compare = json.loads(resp2.content.decode('utf-8'))
         self.assertEqual(compare, textbook)
         self.reload_course()
         self.assertEqual(
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ class TextbookDetailTestCase(CourseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 201)
         resp2 = self.client.get(self.url2)
         self.assertEqual(resp2.status_code, 200)
-        compare = json.loads(resp2.content)
+        compare = json.loads(resp2.content.decode('utf-8'))
         self.assertEqual(compare, replacement)
         course = self.store.get_item(self.course.location)
         self.assertEqual(