diff --git a/boswatch/processManager.py b/boswatch/processManager.py
index 71232aa..9a2f4a4 100644
--- a/boswatch/processManager.py
+++ b/boswatch/processManager.py
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ class ProcessManager:
         @param matchText: string to search for in output
         """
         logging.debug("skip lines till %s from output", matchText)
+        if not self._textMode:
+            matchText = bytes(matchText, "utf-8")
         while matchText not in self.readline():
             pass