diff --git a/sleekxmpp/util/misc_ops.py b/sleekxmpp/util/misc_ops.py
index 3b246625..c2533eec 100644
--- a/sleekxmpp/util/misc_ops.py
+++ b/sleekxmpp/util/misc_ops.py
@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ def unicode(text):
             text = text.decode('utf-8')
         import __builtin__
         return __builtin__.unicode(text)
-    return str(text)
+    elif not isinstance(text, str):
+        return text.decode('utf-8')
+    else:
+        return text
 
 
 def bytes(text):
@@ -148,4 +151,4 @@ def setdefaultencoding(encoding):
         if func is None:
             raise RuntimeError("Could not find setdefaultencoding")
         sys.setdefaultencoding = func
-    return func(encoding)
\ No newline at end of file
+    return func(encoding)