diff --git a/coolamqp/clustering/cluster.py b/coolamqp/clustering/cluster.py
index c7202339989362c6bfd12933d5b9c2acb405176b..229f7e1942183e4c1efdc2b275b131caabfbd8c2 100644
--- a/coolamqp/clustering/cluster.py
+++ b/coolamqp/clustering/cluster.py
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ class Cluster(object):
             tx = False
 
         try:
-            return (self.pub_tr if tx else self.pub_na).publish(message, exchange, routing_key.encode('utf8'))
+            return (self.pub_tr if tx else self.pub_na).publish(message, exchange, routing_key)
         except Publisher.UnusablePublisher:
             raise NotImplementedError(u'Sorry, this functionality is not yet implemented!')