diff --git a/aques.py b/aques.py
index 484581e..3a625bc 100644
--- a/aques.py
+++ b/aques.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class Aques:
         dic_path: str = './aq_dic'
         err = c_int (0)
         aqkoe.AqKanji2Koe_Create.restype = c_void_p
-        handle = aqkoe.AqKanji2Koe_Create (dic_path, byref (err))
+        handle = aqkoe.AqKanji2Koe_Create (dic_path.encode ('utf-8'), byref (err))
         koe: str = ''
         aqkoe.AqKanji2Koe_Convert.restype = c_int
         aqkoe.AqKanji2Koe_Convert (handle, text.encode ('utf-8'), koe, 4096)