diff -ur orig/backend.py new/backend.py
--- orig/backend.py	2010-03-08 20:58:05.000000000 +0200
+++ new/backend.py	2010-05-02 18:02:07.228308564 +0300
@@ -720,7 +720,7 @@
     Format a string to be used on stdout for communication with the daemon.
     '''
     if not isinstance(text, unicode):
-        txt = unicode(text, encoding, errors='replace')
+        text = unicode(text, encoding, errors='replace')
     return text.replace("\n", ";")
 
 def _text_to_bool(text):