diff --git a/backlash/utils.py b/backlash/utils.py
index 1693c85..e3297a2 100644
--- a/backlash/utils.py
+++ b/backlash/utils.py
@@ -21,10 +21,7 @@ def escape(s, quote=False):
     if not isinstance(s, (str, bytes)):
         s = str(s)
     if isinstance(s, bytes):
-        try:
-            s.decode('ascii')
-        except Exception:
-            s = s.decode('utf-8', 'replace')
+        s = s.decode('utf-8', 'replace')
     s = s.replace('&', '&amp;').replace('<', '&lt;').replace('>', '&gt;')
     if quote:
         s = s.replace('"', "&quot;")
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index c1bef55..9a89cf4 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -10,4 +10,5 @@ def test_escape_normalizes_values():
     assert escape(None) == ''
     assert escape(42) == '42'
     assert escape(b'pi\xc3\xb9 <b>') == 'pi\u00f9 &lt;b&gt;'
+    assert escape(b'hello') == 'hello'
     assert escape('say "hi"', quote=True) == 'say &quot;hi&quot;'