diff --git a/requests/models.py b/requests/models.py
index 14094a6c..372d7ce1 100644
--- a/requests/models.py
+++ b/requests/models.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ from .utils import (
     guess_json_utf)
 from .compat import (
     cookielib, urlparse, urlunparse, urljoin, urlsplit, urlencode, str, bytes,
-    StringIO, is_py2, chardet, json, builtin_str, urldefrag, basestring)
+    StringIO, is_py2, is_py3, chardet, json, builtin_str, urldefrag, basestring)
 
 REDIRECT_STATI = (codes.moved, codes.found, codes.other, codes.temporary_moved)
 CONTENT_CHUNK_SIZE = 10 * 1024
@@ -222,13 +222,9 @@ class PreparedRequest(RequestEncodingMixin, RequestHooksMixin):
 
     def prepare_method(self, method):
         """Prepares the given HTTP method."""
-        try:
-            method = unicode(method)
-        except NameError:
-            # We're on Python 3.
-            method = str(method)
-
-        self.method = method.upper()
+        self.method = method
+        if self.method is not None:
+            self.method = self.method.upper()
 
     def prepare_url(self, url, params):
         """Prepares the given HTTP URL."""
diff --git a/test_requests.py b/test_requests.py
index 61634cd1..e55a4cf6 100644
--- a/test_requests.py
+++ b/test_requests.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 """Tests for Requests."""
 
+import json
 import os
 import unittest
 
@@ -243,7 +244,14 @@ class RequestsTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(r.status_code, 200)
         self.assertEqual(r.url, httpbin('get?test=foo&test=baz'))
 
+    def test_different_encodings_dont_break_post(self):
+        r = requests.post(httpbin('post'),
+                          data={'stuff': json.dumps({'a': 123})},
+                          params={'blah': 'asdf1234'},
+                          files={'file': ('test_requests.py', open(__file__, 'rb'))})
+        self.assertEqual(r.status_code, 200)
+
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    unittest.main()
\ No newline at end of file
+    unittest.main()