diff --git a/httplib.py.old b/httplib.py
index 19bcd1b..e648624 100644
--- a/httplib.py.old
+++ b/httplib.py
@@ -859,6 +859,10 @@ class HTTPConnection:
         self._method = method
         if not url:
             url = '/'
+        if not isinstance(url, basestring):
+            url = '%s' % url
+        if not isinstance(url, str):
+            url = url.encode('utf-8')
         hdr = '%s %s %s' % (method, url, self._http_vsn_str)
 
         self._output(hdr)