diff --git a/dulwich/reflog.py b/dulwich/reflog.py
index 083770aa..4507f427 100644
--- a/dulwich/reflog.py
+++ b/dulwich/reflog.py
@@ -1,72 +1,72 @@
 # reflog.py -- Parsing and writing reflog files
 # Copyright (C) 2015 Jelmer Vernooij and others.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 # modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
 # as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2
 # of the License or (at your option) a later version of the License.
 #
 # This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 # GNU General Public License for more details.
 #
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston,
 # MA  02110-1301, USA.
 
 """Utilities for reading and generating reflogs.
 """
 
 import collections
 
 from dulwich.objects import (
     format_timezone,
     parse_timezone,
     ZERO_SHA,
     )
 
 Entry = collections.namedtuple('Entry', ['old_sha', 'new_sha', 'committer',
     'timestamp', 'timezone', 'message'])
 
 
 def format_reflog_line(old_sha, new_sha, committer, timestamp, timezone, message):
     """Generate a single reflog line.
 
     :param old_sha: Old Commit SHA
     :param new_sha: New Commit SHA
     :param committer: Committer name and e-mail
     :param timestamp: Timestamp
     :param timezone: Timezone
     :param message: Message
     """
     if old_sha is None:
         old_sha = ZERO_SHA
     return (old_sha + b' ' + new_sha + b' ' + committer + b' ' +
             str(timestamp).encode('ascii') + b' ' +
-            format_timezone(timezone).encode('ascii') + b'\t' + message)
+            format_timezone(timezone) + b'\t' + message)
 
 
 def parse_reflog_line(line):
     """Parse a reflog line.
 
     :param line: Line to parse
     :return: Tuple of (old_sha, new_sha, committer, timestamp, timezone,
         message)
     """
-    (begin, message) = line.split('\t', 1)
-    (old_sha, new_sha, rest) = begin.split(' ', 2)
-    (committer, timestamp_str, timezone_str) = rest.rsplit(' ', 2)
+    (begin, message) = line.split(b'\t', 1)
+    (old_sha, new_sha, rest) = begin.split(b' ', 2)
+    (committer, timestamp_str, timezone_str) = rest.rsplit(b' ', 2)
     return Entry(old_sha, new_sha, committer, int(timestamp_str),
                  parse_timezone(timezone_str)[0], message)
 
 
 def read_reflog(f):
     """Read reflog.
 
     :param f: File-like object
     :returns: Iterator over Entry objects
     """
     for l in f:
         yield parse_reflog_line(l)