diff --git a/Modules/ossaudiodev.c b/Modules/ossaudiodev.c
index d2fd5c8..5423308 100644
--- a/Modules/ossaudiodev.c
+++ b/Modules/ossaudiodev.c
@@ -925,11 +925,14 @@
 static PyObject *
 oss_getattro(oss_audio_t *self, PyObject *nameobj)
 {
-    char *name = "";
+    const char *name = "";
     PyObject * rval = NULL;
 
-    if (PyUnicode_Check(nameobj))
-        name = _PyUnicode_AsString(nameobj);
+    if (PyUnicode_Check(nameobj)) {
+        name = PyUnicode_AsUTF8(nameobj);
+        if (name == NULL)
+            return NULL;
+    }
 
     if (strcmp(name, "closed") == 0) {
         rval = (self->fd == -1) ? Py_True : Py_False;