diff --git a/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py
index 77aa6a55497..12ba8f89004 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ import subprocess
 from ansible import __version__
 from ansible import constants as C
 from ansible.errors import AnsibleError, AnsibleOptionsError
-from ansible.utils.unicode import to_bytes
+from ansible.utils.unicode import to_bytes, to_unicode
 
 try:
     from __main__ import display
@@ -105,9 +105,9 @@ class CLI(object):
 
         if self.options.verbosity > 0:
             if C.CONFIG_FILE:
-                display.display("Using %s as config file" % C.CONFIG_FILE)
+                display.display(u"Using %s as config file" % to_unicode(C.CONFIG_FILE))
             else:
-                display.display("No config file found; using defaults")
+                display.display(u"No config file found; using defaults")
 
     @staticmethod
     def ask_vault_passwords(ask_new_vault_pass=False, rekey=False):
diff --git a/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py
index 5885d28014c..0184794fc01 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/inventory/__init__.py
@@ -735,11 +735,11 @@ class Inventory(object):
 
             if group and host is None:
                 # load vars in dir/group_vars/name_of_group
-                base_path = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(basedir, "group_vars/%s" % group.name))
+                base_path = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(to_unicode(basedir), "group_vars/%s" % group.name))
                 results = combine_vars(results, self._variable_manager.add_group_vars_file(base_path, self._loader))
             elif host and group is None:
                 # same for hostvars in dir/host_vars/name_of_host
-                base_path = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(basedir, "host_vars/%s" % host.name))
+                base_path = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(to_unicode(basedir), "host_vars/%s" % host.name))
                 results = combine_vars(results, self._variable_manager.add_host_vars_file(base_path, self._loader))
 
         # all done, results is a dictionary of variables for this particular host.