diff --git a/django/core/management/commands/flush.py b/django/core/management/commands/flush.py
index 22c6f5e56e..02f558b31d 100644
--- a/django/core/management/commands/flush.py
+++ b/django/core/management/commands/flush.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
 import sys
 from importlib import import_module
 
diff --git a/docs/releases/1.7.1.txt b/docs/releases/1.7.1.txt
index 9b36ee71ba..64a673f5a6 100644
--- a/docs/releases/1.7.1.txt
+++ b/docs/releases/1.7.1.txt
@@ -10,3 +10,6 @@ Bugfixes
 ========
 
 * Replace with actual issue (:ticket:`00000`).
+
+* Fixed a ``UnicodeDecodeError`` when the ``flush`` error message contained
+  Unicode characters (:ticket:`22882`).