diff --git a/swift/obj/expirer.py b/swift/obj/expirer.py
index cecd552987..d9b124d49c 100644
--- a/swift/obj/expirer.py
+++ b/swift/obj/expirer.py
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ class ObjectExpirer(Daemon):
         all_containers = set()
 
         for c in self.swift.iter_containers(self.expiring_objects_account):
-            container = c['name']
+            container = str(c['name'])
             timestamp = int(container)
             if timestamp > int(time()):
                 break
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ class ObjectExpirer(Daemon):
 
                 if self.processes > 0:
                     obj_process = int(
-                        hashlib.md5('%s/%s' % (str(container), obj)).
+                        hashlib.md5('%s/%s' % (container, obj)).
                         hexdigest(), 16)
                     if obj_process % self.processes != self.process:
                         continue
diff --git a/test/unit/obj/test_expirer.py b/test/unit/obj/test_expirer.py
index 19a84f29b9..7c174f251c 100644
--- a/test/unit/obj/test_expirer.py
+++ b/test/unit/obj/test_expirer.py
@@ -152,20 +152,20 @@ class TestObjectExpirer(TestCase):
                     sum([len(self.containers[x]) for x in self.containers])
 
             def iter_containers(self, *a, **kw):
-                return [{'name': x} for x in self.containers.keys()]
+                return [{'name': unicode(x)} for x in self.containers.keys()]
 
             def iter_objects(self, account, container):
-                return [{'name': x} for x in self.containers[container]]
+                return [{'name': unicode(x)}
+                        for x in self.containers[container]]
 
             def delete_container(*a, **kw):
                 pass
 
-        ukey = u'3'
         containers = {
-            0: set('1-one 2-two 3-three'.split()),
-            1: set('2-two 3-three 4-four'.split()),
-            2: set('5-five 6-six'.split()),
-            ukey: set(u'7-seven\u2661'.split()),
+            '0': set('1-one 2-two 3-three'.split()),
+            '1': set('2-two 3-three 4-four'.split()),
+            '2': set('5-five 6-six'.split()),
+            '3': set(u'7-seven\u2661'.split()),
         }
         x = ObjectExpirer({})
         x.swift = InternalClient(containers)
@@ -176,8 +176,8 @@ class TestObjectExpirer(TestCase):
             x.run_once()
             self.assertNotEqual(deleted_objects, x.deleted_objects)
             deleted_objects = deepcopy(x.deleted_objects)
-        self.assertEqual(containers[ukey].pop(),
-                         deleted_objects[ukey].pop().decode('utf8'))
+        self.assertEqual(containers['3'].pop(),
+                         deleted_objects['3'].pop().decode('utf8'))
         self.assertEqual(containers, deleted_objects)
         self.assertEqual(len(set(x.obj_containers_in_order[:4])), 4)
 
@@ -276,6 +276,39 @@ class TestObjectExpirer(TestCase):
                '2 possible objects',), {}),
              (('Pass completed in 0s; 0 objects expired',), {})])
 
+    def test_run_once_unicode_problem(self):
+        class InternalClient(object):
+
+            container_ring = FakeRing()
+
+            def get_account_info(*a, **kw):
+                return 1, 2
+
+            def iter_containers(*a, **kw):
+                return [{'name': u'1234'}]
+
+            def iter_objects(*a, **kw):
+                return [{'name': u'1234-troms\xf8'}]
+
+            def make_request(*a, **kw):
+                pass
+
+            def delete_container(*a, **kw):
+                pass
+
+        x = expirer.ObjectExpirer({}, logger=self.logger)
+        x.swift = InternalClient()
+
+        requests = []
+
+        def capture_requests(ipaddr, port, method, path, *args, **kwargs):
+            requests.append((method, path))
+
+        with mocked_http_conn(
+                200, 200, 200, give_connect=capture_requests):
+            x.run_once()
+        self.assertEqual(len(requests), 3)
+
     def test_container_timestamp_break(self):
         class InternalClient(object):
             def __init__(self, containers):