diff --git a/mopidy/__init__.py b/mopidy/__init__.py
index 0c54ab33..2def5cfe 100644
--- a/mopidy/__init__.py
+++ b/mopidy/__init__.py
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@ class Config(object):
         value = getattr(settings, attr)
         if type(value) != bool and not value:
             raise ConfigError(u'Setting "%s" is empty.' % attr)
-        if type(value) == unicode:
-            value = value.encode('utf-8')
         return value
 
 config = Config()
diff --git a/mopidy/backends/despotify.py b/mopidy/backends/despotify.py
index dc786d64..062d492e 100644
--- a/mopidy/backends/despotify.py
+++ b/mopidy/backends/despotify.py
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ class DespotifyBackend(BaseBackend):
     def _connect(self):
         logger.info(u'Connecting to Spotify')
         return spytify.Spytify(
-            config.SPOTIFY_USERNAME, config.SPOTIFY_PASSWORD)
+            config.SPOTIFY_USERNAME.encode(ENCODING),
+            config.SPOTIFY_PASSWORD.encode(ENCODING))
 
 
 class DespotifyCurrentPlaylistController(BaseCurrentPlaylistController):