diff --git a/src/_pytest/compat.py b/src/_pytest/compat.py
index 7668c3a94..df661bfff 100644
--- a/src/_pytest/compat.py
+++ b/src/_pytest/compat.py
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ if _PY3:
 else:
 
     def safe_str(v):
-        """returns v as string, converting to ascii if necessary"""
+        """returns v as string, converting to utf-8 if necessary"""
         try:
             return str(v)
         except UnicodeError: