diff --git a/fdroidserver/common.py b/fdroidserver/common.py
index 4c3597f2..a79a4fe4 100644
--- a/fdroidserver/common.py
+++ b/fdroidserver/common.py
@@ -911,7 +911,7 @@ def retrieve_string(app_dir, string, xmlfiles=None):
     def element_content(element):
         if element.text is None:
             return ""
-        return element.text.encode('utf-8')
+        return XMLElementTree.tostring(element, encoding='utf-8', method='text')
 
     for path in xmlfiles:
         if not os.path.isfile(path):