diff --git a/youtube_dl/compat.py b/youtube_dl/compat.py
index 2983501ae..27596687d 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/compat.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/compat.py
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ if sys.version_info < (3, 0):
         print(s.encode(preferredencoding(), 'xmlcharrefreplace'))
 else:
     def compat_print(s):
-        assert type(s) == type(u'')
+        assert isinstance(s, compat_str)
         print(s)