diff --git a/rowers/views/paymentviews.py b/rowers/views/paymentviews.py
index 50851592..6567012d 100644
--- a/rowers/views/paymentviews.py
+++ b/rowers/views/paymentviews.py
@@ -958,7 +958,7 @@ def freecoach_register_view(request):  # pragma: no cover
             message = render_to_string('acc_activate_email.html', {
                 'user': theuser,
                 'domain': current_site.domain,
-                'uid': urlsafe_base64_encode(force_bytes(theuser.id)).decode(),
+                'uid': urlsafe_base64_encode(force_bytes(theuser.id)),
                 'token': account_activation_token.make_token(theuser),
             })
             to_email = form.cleaned_data.get('email')