diff --git a/lib/jnpr/junos/transport/tty_netconf.py b/lib/jnpr/junos/transport/tty_netconf.py
index 1d5133de4..593c9b9f9 100644
--- a/lib/jnpr/junos/transport/tty_netconf.py
+++ b/lib/jnpr/junos/transport/tty_netconf.py
@@ -68,7 +68,9 @@ def open(self, at_shell):
             raise RuntimeError("Error: netconf not responding")
 
         self.hello = self._receive()
-        self._session_id, _ = HelloHandler.parse(self.hello.decode("utf-8"))
+        self._session_id, _ = HelloHandler.parse(
+            self.hello.decode("utf-8") if isinstance(self.hello, bytes) else self.hello
+        )
 
     def close(self, force=False):
         """issue the XML API to close the session"""