diff --git a/meta/lib/oe/package_manager/ipk/manifest.py b/meta/lib/oe/package_manager/ipk/manifest.py
index 469e14c3c6..3549d7428d 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oe/package_manager/ipk/manifest.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oe/package_manager/ipk/manifest.py
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class PkgManifest(Manifest):
         if len(pkgs_to_install) == 0:
             return
 
-        output = pm.dummy_install(pkgs_to_install).decode('utf-8')
+        output = pm.dummy_install(pkgs_to_install)
 
         with open(self.full_manifest, 'w+') as manifest:
             pkg_re = re.compile('^Installing ([^ ]+) [^ ].*')