diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/ssh_functions.py b/lib/ansible/utils/ssh_functions.py
index 2b2de8f3979..a5028c8877b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/ssh_functions.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/ssh_functions.py
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ __metaclass__ = type
 
 import subprocess
 
+from ansible.module_utils._text import to_bytes
+
 
 _HAS_CONTROLPERSIST = {}
 
@@ -33,9 +35,10 @@ def check_for_controlpersist(ssh_executable):
     except KeyError:
         pass
 
+    b_ssh_exec = to_bytes(ssh_executable, errors='surrogate_or_strict')
     has_cp = True
     try:
-        cmd = subprocess.Popen([ssh_executable, '-o', 'ControlPersist'], stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+        cmd = subprocess.Popen([b_ssh_exec, '-o', 'ControlPersist'], stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
         (out, err) = cmd.communicate()
         if b"Bad configuration option" in err or b"Usage:" in err:
             has_cp = False