diff --git a/gate-web/src/main/groovy/com/netflix/spinnaker/gate/controllers/PipelineController.groovy b/gate-web/src/main/groovy/com/netflix/spinnaker/gate/controllers/PipelineController.groovy
index 7de709ab93..6b502d186f 100644
--- a/gate-web/src/main/groovy/com/netflix/spinnaker/gate/controllers/PipelineController.groovy
+++ b/gate-web/src/main/groovy/com/netflix/spinnaker/gate/controllers/PipelineController.groovy
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ class PipelineController {
       job        : [
         [
           type    : 'updatePipeline',
-          pipeline: (String) Base64.encoder.encodeToString(objectMapper.writeValueAsString(pipeline).bytes),
+          pipeline: (String) Base64.encoder.encodeToString(objectMapper.writeValueAsString(pipeline).getBytes("UTF-8")),
           user    : AuthenticatedRequest.spinnakerUser.orElse("anonymous")
         ]
       ]