diff --git a/ros2topic/ros2topic/verb/pub.py b/ros2topic/ros2topic/verb/pub.py
index 9732ab1ee..0a3b0c1f1 100644
--- a/ros2topic/ros2topic/verb/pub.py
+++ b/ros2topic/ros2topic/verb/pub.py
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ def main(args):
         times = 1
 
     if args.stdin:
-        values = collect_stdin()
+        values = collect_stdin().decode()
     else:
         values = args.values