diff --git a/plexpy/request.py b/plexpy/request.py
index 80323514..79bcdb12 100644
--- a/plexpy/request.py
+++ b/plexpy/request.py
@@ -310,12 +310,12 @@ def server_message(response, return_msg=False):
         message = response.content.strip()
 
     if message:
+        message = str(message, 'utf-8', 'replace')
+
         # Truncate message if it is too long.
         if len(message) > 150:
             message = message[:150] + "..."
 
-        message = str(message, 'utf-8', 'replace')
-
         if return_msg:
             return message