diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/paramiko_ssh.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/paramiko_ssh.py
index 150d168bf5..88fbfbb817 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/paramiko_ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/paramiko_ssh.py
@@ -272,6 +272,8 @@ class Connection(ConnectionBase):
 
         display.vvv("EXEC %s" % cmd, host=self._play_context.remote_addr)
 
+        cmd = to_bytes(cmd, errors='strict')
+
         no_prompt_out = ''
         no_prompt_err = ''
         become_output = ''