diff --git a/common/djangoapps/student/models.py b/common/djangoapps/student/models.py
index 437ddb35ed..2e0d1ae607 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/student/models.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/student/models.py
@@ -917,11 +917,11 @@ class LoginFailures(models.Model):
 
     def __str__(self):
         """Str -> Username: count - date."""
-        return six.text_type('{username}: {count} - {date}'.format(
+        return u'{username}: {count} - {date}'.format(
             username=self.user.username,
             count=self.failure_count,
             date=self.lockout_until.isoformat() if self.lockout_until else '-'
-        ))
+        )
 
     class Meta:
         verbose_name = 'Login Failure'
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/student/tests/test_admin_views.py b/common/djangoapps/student/tests/test_admin_views.py
index 59429b254c..636dccd164 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/student/tests/test_admin_views.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/student/tests/test_admin_views.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# coding=UTF-8
 """
 Tests student admin.py
 """
@@ -324,7 +325,7 @@ class LoginFailuresAdminTest(TestCase):
         """Setup."""
         super(LoginFailuresAdminTest, self).setUp()
         self.client.login(username=self.user.username, password='test')
-        self.user2 = UserFactory.create()
+        self.user2 = UserFactory.create(username=u'Zażółć gęślą jaźń')
         LoginFailures.objects.create(user=self.user, failure_count=10, lockout_until=datetime.datetime.now())
         LoginFailures.objects.create(user=self.user2, failure_count=2)
 
@@ -338,11 +339,8 @@ class LoginFailuresAdminTest(TestCase):
         Test if `__str__` method behaves correctly for unicode username.
         It shouldn't raise `TypeError`.
         """
-        try:
-            str(LoginFailures.objects.get(user=self.user))
-            str(LoginFailures.objects.get(user=self.user2))
-        except TypeError as e:
-            self.fail("Failed executing `__str__` with unicode: {0}".format(e))
+        str(LoginFailures.objects.get(user=self.user))
+        str(LoginFailures.objects.get(user=self.user2))
 
     @ddt.data(
         reverse('admin:student_loginfailures_changelist'),