diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/test_notifications.py b/nova/tests/unit/test_notifications.py
index 9135d1f036..483ed86578 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/test_notifications.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/test_notifications.py
@@ -549,11 +549,11 @@ class NotificationsTestCase(test.TestCase):
 
     def test_send_versioned_tags_update(self):
         objects.TagList.create(self.context,
-                               self.instance.uuid, ['tag1', 'tag2'])
+                               self.instance.uuid, [u'tag1', u'tag2'])
         notifications.send_update(self.context, self.instance, self.instance)
         self.assertEqual(1, len(fake_notifier.VERSIONED_NOTIFICATIONS))
 
-        self.assertEqual(['tag1', 'tag2'],
+        self.assertEqual([u'tag1', u'tag2'],
                          fake_notifier.VERSIONED_NOTIFICATIONS[0]
                          ['payload']['nova_object.data']['tags'])