diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
index 94326711ba..0ab1ad03ab 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
@@ -1054,7 +1054,7 @@ class AnsibleModule(object):
         elif isinstance(args, basestring) and use_unsafe_shell:
             shell = True
         elif isinstance(args, basestring):
-            args = shlex.split(args)
+            args = shlex.split(args.encode('utf-8'))
         else:
             msg = "Argument 'args' to run_command must be list or string"
             self.fail_json(rc=257, cmd=args, msg=msg)