diff --git a/salt/ext/tornado/curl_httpclient.py b/salt/ext/tornado/curl_httpclient.py
index 8652343cf7..9e4133fd13 100644
--- a/salt/ext/tornado/curl_httpclient.py
+++ b/salt/ext/tornado/curl_httpclient.py
@@ -494,10 +494,11 @@ def _curl_header_callback(self, headers, header_callback, header_line):
 
     def _curl_debug(self, debug_type, debug_msg):
         debug_types = ('I', '<', '>', '<', '>')
-        debug_msg = native_str(debug_msg)
         if debug_type == 0:
+            debug_msg = native_str(debug_msg)
             curl_log.debug('%s', debug_msg.strip())
         elif debug_type in (1, 2):
+            debug_msg = native_str(debug_msg)
             for line in debug_msg.splitlines():
                 curl_log.debug('%s %s', debug_types[debug_type], line)
         elif debug_type == 4: