diff --git a/frappe/database.py b/frappe/database.py
index 66394e0114..fe3c67929e 100644
--- a/frappe/database.py
+++ b/frappe/database.py
@@ -549,4 +549,4 @@ class Database:
 			self._conn = None
 
 	def escape(self, s):
-		return MySQLdb.escape_string(s)
+		return unicode(MySQLdb.escape_string((s or "").encode("utf-8")), "utf-8")