diff --git a/onionr/communicator.py b/onionr/communicator.py
index 91e85fe4..19948c06 100755
--- a/onionr/communicator.py
+++ b/onionr/communicator.py
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ class OnionrCommunicate:
                 data = b''
             if data == False or len(data) > 10000000:
                 continue
-            hasher.update(data.encode())
+            hasher.update(data)
             digest = hasher.hexdigest()
             if type(digest) is bytes:
                 digest = digest.decode()