diff --git a/aqt/addons.py b/aqt/addons.py
index fac3446fb..e0d428f7e 100644
--- a/aqt/addons.py
+++ b/aqt/addons.py
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ class AddonDownloader(QThread):
             resp, cont = con.request(
                 aqt.appShared + "download/%d" % self.code)
         except Exception, e:
-            self.error = unicode(e)
+            self.error = unicode(e[0], "utf8", "ignore")
             return
         finally:
             remHook("httpRecv", recvEvent)
diff --git a/aqt/sync.py b/aqt/sync.py
index 34164688c..1febecdb7 100644
--- a/aqt/sync.py
+++ b/aqt/sync.py
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ class SyncThread(QThread):
         try:
             ret = self.client.sync()
         except Exception, e:
-            err = unicode(e)
+            err = unicode(e[0], "utf8", "ignore")
             if "Unable to find the server" in err:
                 self.fireEvent("offline")
             else: