diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/middleware/simplegit.py b/rhodecode/lib/middleware/simplegit.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/middleware/simplegit.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/middleware/simplegit.py
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ class SimpleGit(object):
         #authenticate this git request using
         self.authenticate = AuthBasicAuthenticator('', authfunc)
         self.ipaddr = '0.0.0.0'
-        self.repository = None
+        self.repo_name = None
         self.username = None
         self.action = None
 
@@ -147,8 +147,8 @@ class SimpleGit(object):
                 #==============================================================
 
                 if not REMOTE_USER(environ):
-                    self.authenticate.realm = str(
-                                                self.config['rhodecode_realm'])
+                    self.authenticate.realm = self.config['rhodecode_realm'].\
+                        encode('utf8', 'replace')
                     result = self.authenticate(environ)
                     if isinstance(result, str):
                         AUTH_TYPE.update(environ, 'basic')