--- a/hgext/obsolete.py	Fri Jul 06 15:39:01 2012 +0200
+++ b/hgext/obsolete.py	Fri Jul 06 16:25:06 2012 +0200
@@ -617,9 +617,11 @@
                         pass
 
                 oldmark['date'] = '%i %i' % tuple(oldmark['date'])
+                meta = dict((k.encode('utf-8'), v.encode('utf-8'))
+                             for k, v in oldmark.iteritems())
                 try:
                     store.create(bin(oldobject), [bin(n) for n in oldsubjects],
-                                 0, oldmark)
+                                 0, meta)
                 except ValueError:
                     repo.ui.write_err("invalid marker %s -> %s\n"
                                  % (oldobject, oldsubjects))