diff --git a/pagure/lib/notify.py b/pagure/lib/notify.py
index 8aa5044..e9ad0b0 100644
--- a/pagure/lib/notify.py
+++ b/pagure/lib/notify.py
@@ -265,6 +265,7 @@ def send_email(text, subject, to_mail,
     ''' Send an email with the specified information.
 
     :arg text: the content of the email to send
+    :type text: unicode
     :arg subject: the subject of the email
     :arg to_mail: a string representing a list of recipient separated by a
         comma
@@ -790,37 +791,38 @@ def notify_new_commits(abspath, project, branch, commits):
     ''' Notify the people following a project's commits that new commits have
     been added.
     '''
+    # string note: abspath, project and branch can only contain ASCII
+    # by policy (pagure and/or gitolite)
     commits_info = []
     for commit in commits:
         commits_info.append({
             'commit': commit,
-            'author': pagure.lib.git.get_author(commit, abspath),
-            'subject': pagure.lib.git.get_commit_subject(commit, abspath)
+            # we want these to be unicodes (read_output gives us str)
+            'author': pagure.lib.git.get_author(commit, abspath).decode('utf-8'),
+            'subject': pagure.lib.git.get_commit_subject(commit, abspath).decode('utf-8')
         })
 
-    commits_string = '\n'.join('{0}    {1}    {2}'.format(
+    # make sure this is unicode
+    commits_string = u'\n'.join(u'{0}    {1}    {2}'.format(
         commit_info['commit'], commit_info['author'], commit_info['subject'])
         for commit_info in commits_info)
     commit_url = _build_url(
         pagure_config['APP_URL'], _fullname_to_url(project.fullname),
         'commits', branch)
 
-    email_body = '''
-The following commits were pushed to the repo "{repo}" on branch
-"{branch}", which you are following:
-{commits}
+    email_body = u'''
+The following commits were pushed to the repo %s on branch
+%s, which you are following:
+%s
 
 
 
 To view more about the commits, visit:
-{commit_url}
-'''
-    email_body = email_body.format(
-        repo=project.fullname,
-        branch=branch,
-        commits=commits_string,
-        commit_url=commit_url
-    )
+%s
+''' % (project.fullname,
+       branch,
+       commits_string,
+       commit_url)
     mail_to = _get_emails_for_commit_notification(project)
 
     send_email(
diff --git a/tests/test_pagure_lib_notify_email.py b/tests/test_pagure_lib_notify_email.py
index 7f3500f..00ab204 100644
--- a/tests/test_pagure_lib_notify_email.py
+++ b/tests/test_pagure_lib_notify_email.py
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ https://pagure.org/test/issue/1
 
         # Mail text should be as expected.
         self.assertEqual(args[0], exptext)
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(args[0], unicode))
 
         # Mail subject should be as expected.
         self.assertEqual(args[1], u'Issue #1: issue')
@@ -153,6 +154,7 @@ https://pagure.org/somenamespace/test3/issue/1
 
         # Mail text should be as expected.
         self.assertEqual(args[0], exptext)
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(args[0], unicode))
 
         # Mail subject should be as expected.
         self.assertEqual(args[1], u'Issue #1: namespaced project issue')
@@ -184,6 +186,7 @@ https://pagure.org/fork/foo/test/issue/1
 
         # Mail text should be as expected.
         self.assertEqual(args[0], exptext)
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(args[0], unicode))
 
         # Mail subject should be as expected.
         self.assertEqual(args[1], u'Issue #1: forked project issue')
@@ -201,6 +204,43 @@ https://pagure.org/fork/foo/test/issue/1
         # Mail should be from user1 (who submitted the issue).
         self.assertEqual(kwargs['user_from'], self.user2.fullname)
 
+    @mock.patch('pagure.lib.notify.send_email')
+    # for non-ASCII testing, we mock these return values
+    @mock.patch('pagure.lib.git.get_author', return_value="Cecil Cõmmîttër")
+    @mock.patch('pagure.lib.git.get_commit_subject', return_value="We love Motörhead")
+    def test_notify_new_commits(self, _, __, fakemail):  # pylint: disable=invalid-name
+        """Test for notification on new commits, especially when
+        non-ASCII text is involved.
+        """
+        exptext = u"""
+The following commits were pushed to the repo test on branch
+master, which you are following:
+abcdefg    Cecil Cõmmîttër    We love Motörhead
+
+
+
+To view more about the commits, visit:
+https://pagure.org/test/commits/master
+"""
+        # first arg (abspath) doesn't matter and we can use a commit
+        # ID that doesn't actually exist, as we are mocking
+        # the get_author and get_commit_subject calls anyway
+        pagure.lib.notify.notify_new_commits('/', self.project1, 'master', ['abcdefg'])
+        (_, args, kwargs) = fakemail.mock_calls[0]
+
+        # Mail text should be as expected.
+        self.assertEqual(args[0], exptext)
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(args[0], unicode))
+
+        # Mail subject should be as expected.
+        self.assertEqual(args[1], u'New Commits To "test" (master)')
+
+        # Mail doesn't actually get sent to anyone by default
+        self.assertEqual(args[2], '')
+
+        # Project name should be...project (full) name.
+        self.assertEqual(kwargs['project_name'], self.project1.fullname)
+
 # Add more tests to verify that correct mails are sent to correct people here
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':