diff --git a/youtube-dl b/youtube-dl
index 4cb84b22a..7d4344ae0 100755
--- a/youtube-dl
+++ b/youtube-dl
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ class FileDownloader(object):
 
 		stream.close()
 		self.report_finish()
-		if data_len is not None and str(byte_counter) != data_len:
+		if data_len is not None and byte_counter != data_len:
 			raise ContentTooShortError(byte_counter, long(data_len))
 		self.try_rename(tmpfilename, filename)
 		return True