diff --git a/wordfence/cli/malwarescan/malwarescan.py b/wordfence/cli/malwarescan/malwarescan.py
index 93603e3..1778532 100644
--- a/wordfence/cli/malwarescan/malwarescan.py
+++ b/wordfence/cli/malwarescan/malwarescan.py
@@ -267,8 +267,8 @@ def filter_precompiled(precompiled):
                 precompiled = compile_database()
                 with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(
                             dir=os.path.dirname(database_path),
-                            prefix='compiling.',
-                            suffix='.db',
+                            prefix=b'compiling.',
+                            suffix=b'.db',
                             delete=False
                         ) as file:
                     file.write(pickle.dumps(precompiled))