diff --git a/proton.in b/proton.in
index 265cfd66..2750f2fb 100755
--- a/proton.in
+++ b/proton.in
@@ -283,11 +283,11 @@ with prefix_lock:
             j = { "runtime": [ "C:\\vrclient\\", "C:\\vrclient" ] }
 
             if not vr_config is None:
-                win_vr_config = subprocess.check_output([wine_path, "winepath", "-w", vr_config], env=env, stderr=lfile)
+                win_vr_config = subprocess.check_output([wine_path, "winepath", "-w", vr_config], env=env, stderr=lfile).decode("utf-8")
                 j["config"] = [ win_vr_config.strip() ]
 
             if not vr_log is None:
-                win_vr_log = subprocess.check_output([wine_path, "winepath", "-w", vr_log], env=env, stderr=lfile)
+                win_vr_log = subprocess.check_output([wine_path, "winepath", "-w", vr_log], env=env, stderr=lfile).decode("utf-8")
                 j["log"] = [ win_vr_log.strip() ]
 
             j["version"] = 1
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ with prefix_lock:
 
             json.dump(j, open(vrpaths_name, "w"), indent=2)
         except:
-            pass
+            log("Unable to write VR config! " + str(sys.exc_info()[1]))
 
     def make_dxvk_links(dll_dir, link_dir):
         if os.path.lexists(link_dir + "/d3d11.dll"):