diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 6f979eb5..e1d0e132 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ Change History
 1.8.3 (unreleased)
 ------------------
 
-- Nothing changed yet.
+- Transform value to unicode before translating. Fix #182
+  [pbauer]
 
 
 1.8.2 (2016-11-22)
diff --git a/Products/PloneFormGen/content/field_utils.py b/Products/PloneFormGen/content/field_utils.py
index acc488a0..a70ae42f 100644
--- a/Products/PloneFormGen/content/field_utils.py
+++ b/Products/PloneFormGen/content/field_utils.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from Products.Archetypes.Renderer import renderer
+from Products.CMFPlone.utils import safe_unicode
 from zope.i18n import translate
 
 import cgi
@@ -24,7 +26,7 @@ def __getattr__(self, name):
     def wDescription(self, instance, **kwargs):
         value = self.obj.description
         if value:
-            value = translate(value, context=instance.REQUEST)
+            value = translate(safe_unicode(value), context=instance.REQUEST)
             return cgi.escape(value)
         else:
             return value