diff --git a/youtube_dl/compat.py b/youtube_dl/compat.py
index 8a5262dc8..566e9d5ec 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/compat.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/compat.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ except ImportError:  # Python 2
 if sys.version_info[0] == 2:
     class compat_SimpleCookie(compat_cookies.SimpleCookie):
         def load(self, rawdata):
-            if isinstance(rawdata, unicode):
+            if isinstance(rawdata, compat_str):
                 rawdata = str(rawdata)
             return super(compat_SimpleCookie, self).load(rawdata)
 else: