1 files changed, 9 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/cloudinit/config/cc_seed_random.py b/cloudinit/config/cc_seed_random.py
index 49a6b3e8..981e1b08 100644
--- a/cloudinit/config/cc_seed_random.py
+++ b/cloudinit/config/cc_seed_random.py
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@
 
 import base64
 import os
-from StringIO import StringIO
+
+from six import StringIO
 
 from cloudinit.settings import PER_INSTANCE
 from cloudinit import log as logging
@@ -37,7 +38,13 @@ def _decode(data, encoding=None):
     if not encoding or encoding.lower() in ['raw']:
         return data
     elif encoding.lower() in ['base64', 'b64']:
-        return base64.b64decode(data)
+        # Try to give us a native string in both Python 2 and 3, and remember
+        # that b64decode() returns bytes in Python 3.
+        decoded = base64.b64decode(data)
+        try:
+            return decoded.decode('utf-8')
+        except UnicodeDecodeError:
+            return decoded
     elif encoding.lower() in ['gzip', 'gz']:
         return util.decomp_gzip(data, quiet=False)
     else: