diff --git a/mopidy/mpd/dispatcher.py b/mopidy/mpd/dispatcher.py
index 5194885f..849d3821 100644
--- a/mopidy/mpd/dispatcher.py
+++ b/mopidy/mpd/dispatcher.py
@@ -182,6 +182,8 @@ class MpdDispatcher(object):
             raise
         except LookupError:
             pass  # Command has not been converted, i.e. fallback...
+
+        request = request.decode('string_escape')
         (command_name, handler, kwargs) = self._find_handler(request)
         try:
             return handler(self.context, **kwargs)
diff --git a/mopidy/mpd/session.py b/mopidy/mpd/session.py
index 2c0bd840..f0317ede 100644
--- a/mopidy/mpd/session.py
+++ b/mopidy/mpd/session.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class MpdSession(network.LineProtocol):
 
     def decode(self, line):
         try:
-            return super(MpdSession, self).decode(line.decode('string_escape'))
+            return super(MpdSession, self).decode(line)
         except ValueError:
             logger.warning(
                 'Stopping actor due to unescaping error, data '