diff --git a/ietf/checks.py b/ietf/checks.py
index 118375317..2aa5fcb41 100644
--- a/ietf/checks.py
+++ b/ietf/checks.py
@@ -351,20 +351,22 @@ def check_svn_import(app_configs, **kwargs):
     return errors
 
 @checks.register('files')
-def maybe_patch_django(app_configs, **kwargs):
+def maybe_patch_library(app_configs, **kwargs):
     errors = []
     # Change path to our copy of django (this assumes we're running in a
     # virtualenv, which we should)
     import os, django
     django_path = os.path.dirname(django.__file__)
-    parent_path = os.path.dirname(django_path)
+    library_path = os.path.dirname(django_path)
     saved_cwd = os.getcwd()
-    os.chdir(parent_path)
-    # All patches in settings.CHECKS_DJANGO_PATCHES_TO_APPLY must have a
+    os.chdir(library_path)
+    # All patches in settings.CHECKS_LIBRARY_PATCHES_TO_APPLY must have a
     # relative file path rooted in the django dir, for instance
     # 'django/db/models/fields/__init__.py'
-    for patch_file in settings.CHECKS_DJANGO_PATCHES_TO_APPLY:
+    for patch_file in settings.CHECKS_LIBRARY_PATCHES_TO_APPLY:
         patch_path = os.path.join(saved_cwd, patch_file)
+        with open(patch_path) as f:
+            p = f.read()
         patch_set = patch.fromfile(patch_path)
         if patch_set:
             if not patch_set.apply():
diff --git a/ietf/settings.py b/ietf/settings.py
index 94eec0411..28e8482ee 100644
--- a/ietf/settings.py
+++ b/ietf/settings.py
@@ -927,8 +927,9 @@ SILENCED_SYSTEM_CHECKS = [
     "fields.W342",  # Setting unique=True on a ForeignKey has the same effect as using a OneToOneField.
 ]
 
-CHECKS_DJANGO_PATCHES_TO_APPLY = [
+CHECKS_LIBRARY_PATCHES_TO_APPLY = [
     'patch/fix-django-unicode-comparison-bug.patch',
+    'patch/fix-unidecode-argument-warning.patch',
 ]
 
 STATS_NAMES_LIMIT = 25
diff --git a/patch/fix-unidecode-argument-warning.patch b/patch/fix-unidecode-argument-warning.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..588fb2987
--- /dev/null
+++ b/patch/fix-unidecode-argument-warning.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+--- unidecode/__init__.py.old	2018-01-17 07:54:06.882306379 -0800
++++ unidecode/__init__.py	2018-01-09 04:26:04.210366000 -0800
+@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@
+ 
+ def _warn_if_not_unicode(string):
+     if version_info[0] < 3 and not isinstance(string, unicode):
+-        warnings.warn(  "Argument %r is not an unicode object. "
++        warnings.warn(  "Argument %r (%s) is not an unicode object. "
+                         "Passing an encoded string will likely have "
+-                        "unexpected results." % (type(string),),
++                        "unexpected results." % (type(string), string[:16]),
+                         RuntimeWarning, 2)
+ 
+