diff --git a/coolamqp/objects.py b/coolamqp/objects.py
index 2bd8cee2d655de194be36773a907653416ed7db5..e609700cdeba76cb4e1e50e1ec0a28719d34d63a 100644
--- a/coolamqp/objects.py
+++ b/coolamqp/objects.py
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ class Exchange(object):
         self.auto_delete = auto_delete
 
         assert isinstance(self.name, six.text_type)
-        assert isinstance(self.type, six.text_type)
+        assert isinstance(self.type, six.binary_type)
 
     def __repr__(self):
         return u'Exchange(%s, %s, %s, %s)' % (