diff --git a/library/network/uri b/library/network/uri
index 893a3f408f..2ede0e0c08 100644
--- a/library/network/uri
+++ b/library/network/uri
@@ -297,7 +297,10 @@ def uri(module, url, dest, user, password, body, method, headers, redirects, soc
         r['redirected'] = redirected
         r.update(resp_redir)
         r.update(resp)
-        return r, content, dest
+        try:
+            return r, unicode(content).encode('utf8'), dest
+        except:
+            return r, content, dest
     except httplib2.RedirectMissingLocation:
         module.fail_json(msg="A 3xx redirect response code was provided but no Location: header was provided to point to the new location.")
     except httplib2.RedirectLimit: