diff --git a/_pytest/runner.py b/_pytest/runner.py
index 4f66aa97d..cde94c8c8 100644
--- a/_pytest/runner.py
+++ b/_pytest/runner.py
@@ -435,7 +435,10 @@ class OutcomeException(Exception):
 
     def __repr__(self):
         if self.msg:
-            return py._builtin._totext(self.msg)
+            val = self.msg
+            if isinstance(val, bytes):
+                val = py._builtin._totext(val, errors='replace')
+            return val
         return "<%s instance>" %(self.__class__.__name__,)
     __str__ = __repr__
 
diff --git a/testing/test_runner.py b/testing/test_runner.py
index bfa8fc77f..4421c5d0d 100644
--- a/testing/test_runner.py
+++ b/testing/test_runner.py
@@ -440,16 +440,19 @@ def test_pytest_fail_notrace(testdir):
     assert 'def teardown_function' not in result.stdout.str()
 
 
-def test_pytest_fail_notrace_unicode(testdir):
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('str_prefix', ['u', ''])
+def test_pytest_fail_notrace_non_ascii(testdir, str_prefix):
     """Fix pytest.fail with pytrace=False with non-ascii characters (#1178).
+
+    This tests with native and unicode strings containing non-ascii chars.
     """
     testdir.makepyfile(u"""
         # coding: utf-8
         import pytest
 
         def test_hello():
-            pytest.fail(u'oh oh: ☺', pytrace=False)
-    """)
+            pytest.fail(%s'oh oh: ☺', pytrace=False)
+    """ % str_prefix)
     result = testdir.runpytest()
     if sys.version_info[0] >= 3:
         result.stdout.fnmatch_lines(['*test_hello*', "oh oh: ☺"])