Index: Python/ceval.c
===================================================================
--- Python/ceval.c	(revision 68678)
+++ Python/ceval.c	(working copy)
@@ -2932,7 +2932,8 @@
 			PyObject *keyword = kws[2*i];
 			PyObject *value = kws[2*i + 1];
 			int j;
-			if (keyword == NULL || !PyString_Check(keyword)) {
+			if (keyword == NULL || !(PyString_Check(keyword) ||
+						 PyUnicode_Check(keyword))) {
 				PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 				    "%.200s() keywords must be strings",
 				    PyString_AsString(co->co_name));
Index: Lib/test/test_extcall.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_extcall.py	(revision 68678)
+++ Lib/test/test_extcall.py	(working copy)
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@
     (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) {'a': 6, 'b': 7}
     >>> f(1, 2, 3, x=4, y=5, *(6, 7), **UserDict(a=8, b=9))
     (1, 2, 3, 6, 7) {'a': 8, 'b': 9, 'x': 4, 'y': 5}
+    >>> f(**{u'a' : 4})
+    () {u'a': 4}
 
 Examples with invalid arguments (TypeErrors). We're also testing the function
 names in the exception messages.