diff --git a/src/linkahead/common/models.py b/src/linkahead/common/models.py
index ed80c60051f4c6c58c920490aa5363a135643085..aff85556ce3bf13396b43444e68f81cd26606b9c 100644
--- a/src/linkahead/common/models.py
+++ b/src/linkahead/common/models.py
@@ -5276,7 +5276,7 @@ def _parse_single_xml_element(elem: etree._Element):
     if str(elem.tag).lower() in classmap:
         klass = classmap.get(str(elem.tag).lower())
         if klass is None:
-            raise LinkAheadException("No class for tag '{}' found.".format(elem.tag))
+            raise LinkAheadException("No class for tag '{}' found.".format(str(elem.tag)))
         entity = klass()
         Entity._from_xml(entity, elem)
 
@@ -5322,7 +5322,7 @@ def _parse_single_xml_element(elem: etree._Element):
     else:
         code = elem.get("code")
         return Message(
-            type=elem.tag,
+            type=str(elem.tag),
             code=int(code) if code is not None else None,
             description=elem.get("description"),
             body=elem.text,