diff --git a/bumble/sdp.py b/bumble/sdp.py
index ae013017..06be980c 100644
--- a/bumble/sdp.py
+++ b/bumble/sdp.py
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ class DataElement:
         UUID: lambda x: DataElement(
             DataElement.UUID, core.UUID.from_bytes(bytes(reversed(x)))
         ),
-        TEXT_STRING: lambda x: DataElement(DataElement.TEXT_STRING, x.decode('utf8')),
+        TEXT_STRING: lambda x: DataElement(DataElement.TEXT_STRING, x),
         BOOLEAN: lambda x: DataElement(DataElement.BOOLEAN, x[0] == 1),
         SEQUENCE: lambda x: DataElement(
             DataElement.SEQUENCE, DataElement.list_from_bytes(x)