diff --git a/addon.xml b/addon.xml
index 8383134..4a620ca 100644
--- a/addon.xml
+++ b/addon.xml
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
             <fanart>resources/fanart.jpg</fanart>
         </assets>
         <news>
+            v2.1.1 (2021-04-04)
+            - fix bug in auth request
             v2.1.0 (2021-02-27)
             - migrate to python 3 (Kodi 19)
             v2.0.0 (2019-01-16)
diff --git a/default.py b/default.py
index dafdefc..815fcaa 100644
--- a/default.py
+++ b/default.py
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ def auth_media(jwt, videoid):
         response = error.read()
 
     try:
-        urllib.request.urlopen(urllib.request.Request(heartbeat_url + '/destroy', "", {'xauthorization': jwt, 'Content-Type': 'application/json'})).read()
+        urllib.request.urlopen(urllib.request.Request(heartbeat_url + '/destroy', "".encode(), {'xauthorization': jwt, 'Content-Type': 'application/json'})).read()
     except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
         pass