diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/cloudstack/cs_instance.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/cloudstack/cs_instance.py
index 06a2529419..c3145b99f9 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/cloudstack/cs_instance.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/cloudstack/cs_instance.py
@@ -348,8 +348,13 @@ instance_name:
 
 import base64
 from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule
-from ansible.module_utils.cloudstack import (AnsibleCloudStack, CS_HYPERVISORS, cs_argument_spec,
-                                             cs_required_together)
+from ansible.module_utils._text import to_bytes, to_text
+from ansible.module_utils.cloudstack import (
+    AnsibleCloudStack,
+    CS_HYPERVISORS,
+    cs_argument_spec,
+    cs_required_together
+)
 
 
 class AnsibleCloudStackInstance(AnsibleCloudStack):
@@ -592,7 +597,7 @@ class AnsibleCloudStackInstance(AnsibleCloudStack):
     def get_user_data(self):
         user_data = self.module.params.get('user_data')
         if user_data is not None:
-            user_data = base64.b64encode(str(user_data))
+            user_data = to_text(base64.b64encode(to_bytes(user_data)))
         return user_data
 
     def get_details(self):
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/cs_instance/tasks/present.yml b/test/integration/targets/cs_instance/tasks/present.yml
index cc145e5bb0..ed089f170d 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/cs_instance/tasks/present.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/cs_instance/tasks/present.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@
     affinity_group: "{{ cs_resource_prefix }}-ag"
     security_group: "{{ cs_resource_prefix }}-sg"
     ssh_key: "{{ cs_resource_prefix }}-sshkey"
+    user_data: |
+        #cloud-config
+        package_upgrade: true
+        packages:
+          - tmux
     tags: []
   register: instance
   check_mode: true
@@ -32,6 +37,11 @@
     affinity_group: "{{ cs_resource_prefix }}-ag"
     security_group: "{{ cs_resource_prefix }}-sg"
     ssh_key: "{{ cs_resource_prefix }}-sshkey"
+    user_data: |
+        #cloud-config
+        package_upgrade: true
+        packages:
+          - tmux
     tags: []
   register: instance
 - name: verify create instance
@@ -54,6 +64,11 @@
     affinity_group: "{{ cs_resource_prefix }}-ag"
     security_group: "{{ cs_resource_prefix }}-sg"
     ssh_key: "{{ cs_resource_prefix }}-sshkey"
+    user_data: |
+        #cloud-config
+        package_upgrade: true
+        packages:
+          - tmux
     tags: []
   register: instance
 - name: verify create instance idempotence
@@ -84,7 +99,6 @@
     - instance.service_offering == "{{ test_cs_instance_offering_1 }}"
     - instance.state == "Running"
 
-
 - name: test running instance not updated
   cs_instance:
     name: "{{ cs_resource_prefix }}-vm-{{ instance_number }}"