diff --git a/powerline/lib/inotify.py b/powerline/lib/inotify.py
index 2ef5aa78..821401e3 100644
--- a/powerline/lib/inotify.py
+++ b/powerline/lib/inotify.py
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ class INotify(object):
 			pos += self.hdr.size
 			name = None
 			if get_name:
-				name = raw[pos:pos + name_len].rstrip(b'\0').decode(self.fenc)
+				name = raw[pos:pos + name_len].rstrip(b'\0')
 			pos += name_len
 			self.process_event(wd, mask, cookie, name)
 
diff --git a/powerline/lib/watcher/inotify.py b/powerline/lib/watcher/inotify.py
index 6708b21e..4a134e8d 100644
--- a/powerline/lib/watcher/inotify.py
+++ b/powerline/lib/watcher/inotify.py
@@ -247,6 +247,8 @@ class INotifyTreeWatcher(INotify):
 			if mask & self.CREATE:
 				# A new sub-directory might have been created, monitor it.
 				try:
+					if not isinstance(path, bytes):
+						name = name.decode(self.fenc)
 					self.add_watch(os.path.join(path, name))
 				except OSError as e:
 					if e.errno == errno.ENOENT:
diff --git a/powerline/lib/watcher/uv.py b/powerline/lib/watcher/uv.py
index 6268580a..6fe03138 100644
--- a/powerline/lib/watcher/uv.py
+++ b/powerline/lib/watcher/uv.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 from __future__ import (unicode_literals, division, absolute_import, print_function)
 
 import os
+import sys
 
 from collections import defaultdict
 from threading import RLock
@@ -56,15 +57,24 @@ def start_uv_thread():
 	return _uv_thread.uv_loop
 
 
+def normpath(path, fenc):
+	path = realpath(path)
+	if isinstance(path, bytes):
+		return path.decode(fenc)
+	else:
+		return path
+
+
 class UvWatcher(object):
 	def __init__(self):
 		import_pyuv()
 		self.watches = {}
 		self.lock = RLock()
 		self.loop = start_uv_thread()
+		self.fenc = sys.getfilesystemencoding() or 'utf-8'
 
 	def watch(self, path):
-		path = realpath(path)
+		path = normpath(path, self.fenc)
 		with self.lock:
 			if path not in self.watches:
 				try:
@@ -82,7 +92,7 @@ class UvWatcher(object):
 						raise
 
 	def unwatch(self, path):
-		path = realpath(path)
+		path = normpath(path, self.fenc)
 		with self.lock:
 			try:
 				watch = self.watches.pop(path)
@@ -92,7 +102,7 @@ class UvWatcher(object):
 
 	def is_watching(self, path):
 		with self.lock:
-			return realpath(path) in self.watches
+			return normpath(path, self.fenc) in self.watches
 
 	def __del__(self):
 		try:
@@ -122,7 +132,7 @@ class UvFileWatcher(UvWatcher):
 		self.events.pop(path, None)
 
 	def __call__(self, path):
-		path = realpath(path)
+		path = normpath(path, self.fenc)
 		with self.lock:
 			events = self.events.pop(path, None)
 		if events:
@@ -139,12 +149,12 @@ class UvTreeWatcher(UvWatcher):
 	def __init__(self, basedir, ignore_event=None):
 		super(UvTreeWatcher, self).__init__()
 		self.ignore_event = ignore_event or (lambda path, name: False)
-		self.basedir = realpath(basedir)
+		self.basedir = normpath(basedir, self.fenc)
 		self.modified = True
 		self.watch_directory(self.basedir)
 
 	def watch_directory(self, path):
-		os.path.walk(realpath(path), self.watch_one_directory, None)
+		os.path.walk(normpath(path, self.fenc), self.watch_one_directory, None)
 
 	def watch_one_directory(self, arg, dirname, fnames):
 		try: