diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/verify_student/tests/test_ssencrypt.py b/lms/djangoapps/verify_student/tests/test_ssencrypt.py
index 52b4d065b9..71cdce8af0 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/verify_student/tests/test_ssencrypt.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/verify_student/tests/test_ssencrypt.py
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ def test_rsa():
 
 
 def test_rsa_unicode_data():
-    data = u'12345678901234567890123456789012'
+    data = b'12345678901234567890123456789012'
     _assert_rsa(data, PUB_KEY_BYTES, PRIV_KEY_BYTES)