Jamu.py crashes - unable to decode unicode

[troy@…]

Jamu.py crashes with the following error:

troy@ebony:/usr/local/bin$ jamu -MVI
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/bin/jamu", line 6420, in <module>
    main()
  File "/usr/local/bin/jamu", line 6388, in main
    configuration.setUseroptions(default_config)
  File "/usr/local/bin/jamu", line 1287, in setUseroptions
    self.config['ignore-directory'].append(unicode(cfg.get(section, option), 'utf8'))
TypeError: decoding Unicode is not supported

jamu.conf contains the following entries for ignore-directory:

[ignore-directory]
ignore01: /var/lib/mythtv/videos/Movies/.AppleDouble/
ignore02: /var/lib/mythtv/videos/Movies/Childrens/.AppleDouble/
ignore03: /var/lib/mythtv/videos/Series/.AppleDouble/
ignore04: /var/lib/mythtv/videos/Documentaries/.AppleDouble/
ignore05: .AppleDouble/
ignore08: Movies/.AppleDouble/

Removing the ignore-directory options stops the crash.

Alternatively altering line 1287 in jamu.py fixes the crash:

from:

                    self.config['ignore-directory'].append(unicode(cfg.get(section, option), 'utf8'))

to:

                    self.config['ignore-directory'].append(cfg.get(section, option))

troy@ebony:/usr/local/bin$ mythbackend --version
Please attach all output as a file in bug reports.
MythTV Version   : v0.24-302-g06303d0
MythTV Branch    : jyavenard/backports/fixes/0.24
Network Protocol : 63
Library API      : 0.24.20101129-1
QT Version       : 4.7.0
Options compiled in:
 linux debug using_alsa using_jack using_oss using_pulse using_pulseoutput using_backend using_bindings_perl using_bindings_python using_dvb using_firewire using_frontend using_hdhomerun using_hdpvr using_iptv using_ivtv using_joystick_menu using_lirc using_mheg using_opengl_video using_opengl_vsync using_qtdbus using_qtwebkit using_v4l using_x11 using_xrandr using_xv using_bindings_perl using_bindings_python using_mythtranscode using_opengl using_vdpau using_ffmpeg_threads using_live using_mheg