diff --git a/nilmdb/cmdline/cmdline.py b/nilmdb/cmdline/cmdline.py
index fc6196a..dc57103 100644
--- a/nilmdb/cmdline/cmdline.py
+++ b/nilmdb/cmdline/cmdline.py
@@ -73,12 +73,14 @@ class Complete(object): # pragma: no cover
         if not path:
             return []
         results = []
+        # prefix comes in as UTF-8, but results need to be Unicode,
+        # weird.  Still doesn't work in all cases, but that's bugs in
+        # argcomplete.
         prefix = nilmdb.utils.unicode.decode(prefix)
         for (k,v) in client.stream_get_metadata(path).iteritems():
-            k = nilmdb.utils.unicode.encode(k)
-            v = nilmdb.utils.unicode.encode(v)
-            if k.startswith(prefix):
-                results.append(self.escape(k + '=' + v))
+            kv = self.escape(k + '=' + v)
+            if kv.startswith(prefix):
+                results.append(kv)
         return results
 
 class Cmdline(object):
diff --git a/nilmdb/cmdline/metadata.py b/nilmdb/cmdline/metadata.py
index e4a99c7..fd505a0 100644
--- a/nilmdb/cmdline/metadata.py
+++ b/nilmdb/cmdline/metadata.py
@@ -41,10 +41,10 @@ def cmd_metadata(self):
     if self.args.set is not None or self.args.update is not None:
         # Either set, or update
         if self.args.set is not None:
-            keyvals = self.args.set
+            keyvals = map(nilmdb.utils.unicode.decode, self.args.set)
             handler = self.client.stream_set_metadata
         else:
-            keyvals = self.args.update
+            keyvals = map(nilmdb.utils.unicode.decode, self.args.update)
             handler = self.client.stream_update_metadata
 
         # Extract key=value pairs
@@ -62,7 +62,9 @@ def cmd_metadata(self):
             self.die("error setting/updating metadata: %s", str(e))
     elif self.args.delete is not None:
         # Delete (by setting values to empty strings)
-        keys = self.args.delete or None
+        keys = None
+        if self.args.delete:
+            keys = map(nilmdb.utils.unicode.decode, self.args.delete)
         try:
             data = self.client.stream_get_metadata(self.args.path, keys)
             for key in data:
@@ -72,7 +74,9 @@ def cmd_metadata(self):
             self.die("error deleting metadata: %s", str(e))
     else:
         # Get (or unspecified)
-        keys = self.args.get or None
+        keys = None
+        if self.args.get:
+            keys = map(nilmdb.utils.unicode.decode, self.args.get)
         try:
             data = self.client.stream_get_metadata(self.args.path, keys)
         except nilmdb.client.ClientError as e:
@@ -81,4 +85,6 @@ def cmd_metadata(self):
             # Print nonexistant keys as having empty value
             if value is None:
                 value = ""
-            printf("%s=%s\n", key, value)
+            printf("%s=%s\n",
+                   nilmdb.utils.unicode.encode(key),
+                   nilmdb.utils.unicode.encode(value))
diff --git a/nilmdb/utils/unicode.py b/nilmdb/utils/unicode.py
index 8f4eca9..8b86e69 100644
--- a/nilmdb/utils/unicode.py
+++ b/nilmdb/utils/unicode.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 def encode(u):
     """Try to encode something from Unicode to a string using the
     default encoding.  If it fails, try encoding as UTF-8."""
+    if not isinstance(u, unicode):
+        return u
     try:
         return u.encode()
     except UnicodeEncodeError:
@@ -9,7 +11,12 @@ def encode(u):
 def decode(s):
     """Try to decode someting from string to Unicode using the
     default encoding.  If it fails, try decoding as UTF-8."""
+    if isinstance(s, unicode):
+        return s
     try:
         return s.decode()
     except UnicodeDecodeError:
-        return s.decode("utf-8")
+        try:
+            return s.decode("utf-8")
+        except UnicodeDecodeError:
+            return s # best we can do
diff --git a/tests/test_cmdline.py b/tests/test_cmdline.py
index af1cc86..ffd07ab 100644
--- a/tests/test_cmdline.py
+++ b/tests/test_cmdline.py
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class TestCmdline(object):
                 sys.exit(0)
             except SystemExit as e:
                 exitcode = e.code
-        captured = outfile.getvalue()
+        captured = nilmdb.utils.unicode.decode(outfile.getvalue())
         self.captured = captured
         self.exitcode = exitcode