diff --git a/atomic-reactor-koji-util-krb-str.patch b/atomic-reactor-koji-util-krb-str.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5cd5006
--- /dev/null
+++ b/atomic-reactor-koji-util-krb-str.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+From f3edc9154ae2bf10eb9a8da85b497440b5dc02c8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Adam Miller <maxamillion@fedoraproject.org>
+Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2017 14:08:15 -0500
+Subject: [PATCH] Ensure krb principal/keytab are str type in koji_util
+
+Thanks to @puiterwijk for the patch
+
+Signed-off-by: Adam Miller <maxamillion@fedoraproject.org>
+---
+ atomic_reactor/koji_util.py | 4 ++--
+ 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
+
+diff --git a/atomic_reactor/koji_util.py b/atomic_reactor/koji_util.py
+index ce3bc5e9..e0adf98d 100644
+--- a/atomic_reactor/koji_util.py
++++ b/atomic_reactor/koji_util.py
+@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@ def koji_login(session,
+         # Use Kerberos
+         logger.info("Using Kerberos for Koji authentication")
+         if krb_principal and krb_keytab:
+-            kwargs['principal'] = krb_principal
+-            kwargs['keytab'] = krb_keytab
++            kwargs['principal'] = str(krb_principal)
++            kwargs['keytab'] = str(krb_keytab)
+ 
+         result = session.krb_login(**kwargs)
+ 
diff --git a/atomic-reactor.spec b/atomic-reactor.spec
index cce67a8..fd96067 100644
--- a/atomic-reactor.spec
+++ b/atomic-reactor.spec
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 
 Name:           %{project}
 Version:        1.6.25.1
-Release:        2%{?dist}
+Release:        3%{?dist}
 
 Summary:        Improved builder for Docker images
 Group:          Development/Tools
@@ -58,6 +58,13 @@ Patch1:         atomic-reactor-fix-x86_64-tests.patch
 # upstream (at the time of this writing). Switching to the 2.x release
 Patch2:         atomic-reactor-fix-docker-py-requires.patch
 
+# Need to fix the unicode vs string handling of some krb values passed in
+#
+# Submitted upstream
+#
+#   https://github.com/projectatomic/atomic-reactor/pull/860
+Patch3:         atomic-reactor-koji-util-krb-str.patch
+
 BuildArch:      noarch
 
 %if 0%{?with_check}
@@ -253,6 +260,7 @@ Plugins for automated rebuilds
 %patch0 -p1
 %patch1 -p1
 %patch2 -p0
+%patch3 -p1
 
 %build
 %py2_build
@@ -432,6 +440,9 @@ LANG=en_US.utf8 py.test-%{python2_version} -vv tests
 
 
 %changelog
+* Tue Oct 03 2017 Adam Miller <maxamillion@fedoraproject.org> - 1.6.25.1-3
+- Patch to fix unicode handling of krb+koji arguments in koji_util
+
 * Tue Oct 03 2017 Adam Miller <maxamillion@fedoraproject.org> - 1.6.25.1-2
 - patch requirements to use fedora's docker-py 2.x resource distribution name
 - Fix tests on non-x86_64 arches