diff --git a/build/pkgs/primecount/checksums.ini b/build/pkgs/primecount/checksums.ini
index ca7bb0a664d..fc79761b5b2 100644
--- a/build/pkgs/primecount/checksums.ini
+++ b/build/pkgs/primecount/checksums.ini
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 tarball=primecount-VERSION.tar.gz
-sha1=c5e4912f75f096c2a3841c045c85207a78bcd6b5
-md5=f06957db6ff92132584794aa53e5b2c8
-cksum=1834548948
+sha1=af88c883e01c012a45e5971b1c69bdbb152841cb
+md5=9b4ebfef457074bfaeb57d9cadfa325c
+cksum=3045607217
diff --git a/build/pkgs/primecount/package-version.txt b/build/pkgs/primecount/package-version.txt
index 69df05f33b7..4f8c639658e 100644
--- a/build/pkgs/primecount/package-version.txt
+++ b/build/pkgs/primecount/package-version.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-4.3
+4.7
diff --git a/src/sage/interfaces/primecount.pyx b/src/sage/interfaces/primecount.pyx
index e1ef2b6da12..f9f4f85c157 100644
--- a/src/sage/interfaces/primecount.pyx
+++ b/src/sage/interfaces/primecount.pyx
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ cpdef prime_pi_128(n):
         sage: nth_prime_128(2**65)   # not tested
         ?
     """
-    cdef cppstring s = str(n)
+    cdef cppstring s = bytes(n)
     cdef bytes ans
     sig_on()
     ans = primecount.pi(s)