diff --git a/product/Localizer/MessageCatalog.py b/product/Localizer/MessageCatalog.py
index 9b4f7cd870c9a4f559aecb49457ef2b80d9fa5ec..703ca8c10a4955e40ed872672b141218d4108648 100644
--- a/product/Localizer/MessageCatalog.py
+++ b/product/Localizer/MessageCatalog.py
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ def to_unicode(x, encoding=None):
     are considered to be in this encoding by default.
     """
     if isinstance(x, str):
-        unicode(x, encoding or HTTPRequest.default_encoding)
+        return unicode(x, encoding or HTTPRequest.default_encoding)
     return unicode(x)