diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index f9dbf6839..d8d8817ed 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@
 	  to connect be timed out (introduced in the vulnerability path)
 	* fixed falling back to sending UDP packets direct when socks proxy fails
 	* fixed total_wanted bug (when setting file priorities in add_torrent_params)
+	* fix python3 compatibility with sha1_hash
 
 1.0.6 release
 
diff --git a/bindings/python/src/big_number.cpp b/bindings/python/src/big_number.cpp
index 6d86f36ff..80d357d20 100644
--- a/bindings/python/src/big_number.cpp
+++ b/bindings/python/src/big_number.cpp
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ void bind_sha1_hash()
         .def(self != self)
         .def(self < self)
         .def(self_ns::str(self))
-        .def(init<char const*>())
+        .def(init<std::string>())
         .def("clear", &sha1_hash::clear)
         .def("is_all_zeros", &sha1_hash::is_all_zeros)
         .def("to_string", &sha1_hash::to_string)