diff --git a/interactions/api/gateway/client.py b/interactions/api/gateway/client.py
index c63d75173..1b57a26ee 100644
--- a/interactions/api/gateway/client.py
+++ b/interactions/api/gateway/client.py
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ async def _handle_connection(
             log.debug(f"READY (session_id: {self.session_id}, seq: {self.sequence})")
             self.ready.set()
         else:
-            log.debug(f"{event}: {data}")
+            log.debug(f"{event}: {str(data).encode('utf-8')}")
             self._dispatch_event(event, data)
 
     async def wait_until_ready(self) -> None: