diff --git a/source4/param/pyparam.c b/source4/param/pyparam.c
index 18d7017b9c6..e7e908fcac3 100644
--- a/source4/param/pyparam.c
+++ b/source4/param/pyparam.c
@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@ static Py_ssize_t py_lp_ctx_len(PyObject *self)
 static PyObject *py_lp_ctx_getitem(PyObject *self, PyObject *name)
 {
 	struct loadparm_service *service;
-	if (!PyStr_Check(name)) {
+	if (!(PyStr_Check(name) || PyUnicode_Check(name))) {
 		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "Only string subscripts are supported");
 		return NULL;
 	}
diff --git a/source4/param/pyparam_util.c b/source4/param/pyparam_util.c
index 512a8b1cdb7..917caf809e5 100644
--- a/source4/param/pyparam_util.c
+++ b/source4/param/pyparam_util.c
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ _PUBLIC_ struct loadparm_context *lpcfg_from_py_object(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx, PyOb
 	PyTypeObject *lp_type;
 	bool is_lpobj;
 
-	if (PyStr_Check(py_obj)) {
+	if (PyStr_Check(py_obj) || PyUnicode_Check(py_obj)) {
 		lp_ctx = loadparm_init_global(false);
 		if (lp_ctx == NULL) {
 			return NULL;