diff --git a/webapp/graphite/events/models.py b/webapp/graphite/events/models.py
index b00901ef9..e09b9c0a3 100644
--- a/webapp/graphite/events/models.py
+++ b/webapp/graphite/events/models.py
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 import six
 django.utils.encoding.python_2_unicode_compatible = six.python_2_unicode_compatible
 django.utils.six = six
+from django.utils.encoding import smart_str # noqa: E402
+django.utils.encoding.smart_text = smart_str
 from tagging.models import Tag  # noqa: E402
 
 from graphite.events.compat import ModelTaggedItemManager  # noqa: E402