diff --git a/sopel_modules/SpiceBot/Database.py b/sopel_modules/SpiceBot/Database.py
index 8b9e176..651749d 100644
--- a/sopel_modules/SpiceBot/Database.py
+++ b/sopel_modules/SpiceBot/Database.py
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ class BotDatabase():
                                 'db_user, db_pass, db_host')
             SopelDB.url = URL(drivername=drivername, username=db_user, password=db_pass,
                            host=db_host, port=db_port, database=db_name, query={'charset': 'utf8'})
-        SopelDB.engine = create_engine(SopelDB.url, encoding='utf-8')
+        SopelDB.engine = create_engine(SopelDB.url, encoding='utf-8', convert_unicode=True)
 
         sopel.db.NickValues = NickValues
         SopelDB.get_nick_value = SpiceDB.get_nick_value