diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 2373e75e..44dbe525 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Version 2.0.8 (2012-09-13 06:58:42) stable
+Version 2.0.8 (2012-09-13 06:59:39) stable
diff --git a/gluon/languages.py b/gluon/languages.py
index 8c0361f4..d09e55bb 100644
--- a/gluon/languages.py
+++ b/gluon/languages.py
@@ -709,6 +709,10 @@ class translator(object):
         the ## notation is ignored in multiline strings and strings that
         start with ##. this is to allow markmin syntax to be translated
         """
+        if isinstance(message, unicode): 
+            message = message.encode('utf8') 
+        if isinstance(prefix, unicode): 
+            prefix = prefix.encode('utf8') 
         key = prefix+message
         mt = self.t.get(key, None)
         if mt is not None: return mt