diff --git a/asterisk/__init__.py b/asterisk/__init__.py
index ef8c5c9..28e59ae 100644
--- a/asterisk/__init__.py
+++ b/asterisk/__init__.py
@@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ manager - a module for interacting with the asterisk manager interface
 """
 
 __all__ = ['agi', 'agitb', 'config', 'manager']
-__version__ = '0.4.9'
+__version__ = '0.5.0'
diff --git a/asterisk/manager.py b/asterisk/manager.py
index 7cd8240..0453135 100644
--- a/asterisk/manager.py
+++ b/asterisk/manager.py
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ class Manager(object):
 
         # lock the socket and send our command
         try:
-            self._sock.write(command.encode('utf8'))
+            self._sock.write(command.encode('utf8','ignore'))
             self._sock.flush()
         except socket.error as e:
             raise ManagerSocketException(e.errno, e.strerror)