diff --git a/src/sugar/datastore/dbus_helpers.py b/src/sugar/datastore/dbus_helpers.py
index 8dfb41a3..19145d9c 100644
--- a/src/sugar/datastore/dbus_helpers.py
+++ b/src/sugar/datastore/dbus_helpers.py
@@ -77,9 +77,10 @@ def find(query, properties, reply_handler, error_handler):
     logging.debug('dbus_helpers.find: %r %r' % (query, properties))
     if reply_handler and error_handler:
         return _get_data_store().find(query, properties,
-                reply_handler=reply_handler, error_handler=error_handler)
+                reply_handler=reply_handler, error_handler=error_handler,
+                byte_arrays=True)
     else:
-        return _get_data_store().find(query, properties)
+        return _get_data_store().find(query, properties, byte_arrays=True)
 
 def mount(uri, options, timeout=-1):
     return _get_data_store().mount(uri, options, timeout=timeout)