diff --git a/ceilometer/alarm/rpc.py b/ceilometer/alarm/rpc.py
index afe6cc120..aee59cf9e 100644
--- a/ceilometer/alarm/rpc.py
+++ b/ceilometer/alarm/rpc.py
@@ -44,5 +44,5 @@ class RPCAlarmNotifier(rpc_proxy.RpcProxy):
             'alarm_id': alarm.alarm_id,
             'previous': previous,
             'current': alarm.state,
-            'reason': reason})
+            'reason': unicode(reason)})
         self.cast(context.get_admin_context(), msg)
diff --git a/tests/alarm/test_rpc.py b/tests/alarm/test_rpc.py
index ba7bfe7ab..85669e516 100644
--- a/tests/alarm/test_rpc.py
+++ b/tests/alarm/test_rpc.py
@@ -91,3 +91,8 @@ class TestRPCAlarmNotifier(base.TestCase):
                              self.alarms[i].state)
             self.assertEqual(self.notified[i][1]["args"]["data"]["reason"],
                              "what? %d" % i)
+
+    def test_notify_non_string_reason(self):
+        self.notifier.notify(self.alarms[0], 'ok', 42)
+        reason = self.notified[0][1]['args']['data']['reason']
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(reason, basestring))