diff --git a/gitlab/objects.py b/gitlab/objects.py
index c453daf57..34a50e6da 100644
--- a/gitlab/objects.py
+++ b/gitlab/objects.py
@@ -543,8 +543,8 @@ def __eq__(self, other):
         if type(other) is type(self):
             selfdict = self.as_dict()
             otherdict = other.as_dict()
-            selfdict.pop(u'password', None)
-            otherdict.pop(u'password', None)
+            selfdict.pop('password', None)
+            otherdict.pop('password', None)
             return selfdict == otherdict
         return False