diff --git a/core/main_db.py b/core/main_db.py
index 4be8aa3c..d9d7c1b9 100644
--- a/core/main_db.py
+++ b/core/main_db.py
@@ -11,11 +11,37 @@ import re
 import sqlite3
 import time
 
-from six import text_type
+from six import text_type, PY2
 
 import core
 from core import logger
 
+if PY2:
+    class Row(sqlite3.Row, object):
+        """
+        Row factory that uses Byte Strings for keys.
+
+        The sqlite3.Row in Python 2 does not support unicode keys.
+        This overrides __getitem__ to attempt to encode the key to bytes first.
+        """
+
+        def __getitem__(self, item):
+            """
+            Get an item from the row by index or key.
+
+            :param item: Index or Key of item to return.
+            :return: An item from the sqlite3.Row.
+            """
+            try:
+                # sqlite3.Row column names should be Bytes in Python 2
+                item = item.encode()
+            except AttributeError:
+                pass  # assume item is a numeric index
+
+            return super(Row, self).__getitem__(item)
+else:
+    from sqlite3 import Row
+
 
 def db_filename(filename='nzbtomedia.db', suffix=None):
     """
@@ -37,10 +63,7 @@ class DBConnection(object):
 
         self.filename = filename
         self.connection = sqlite3.connect(db_filename(filename), 20)
-        if row_type == 'dict':
-            self.connection.row_factory = self._dict_factory
-        else:
-            self.connection.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
+        self.connection.row_factory = Row
 
     def check_db_version(self):
         result = None
@@ -214,13 +237,6 @@ class DBConnection(object):
             for column in cursor
         }
 
-    # http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3300464/how-can-i-get-dict-from-sqlite-query
-    def _dict_factory(self, cursor, row):
-        return {
-            col[0]: row[idx]
-            for idx, col in enumerate(cursor.description)
-        }
-
 
 def sanity_check_database(connection, sanity_check):
     sanity_check(connection).check()