diff --git a/tests/admin_scripts/tests.py b/tests/admin_scripts/tests.py
index 6ebac74fc3..90fd3520e2 100644
--- a/tests/admin_scripts/tests.py
+++ b/tests/admin_scripts/tests.py
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ class AdminScriptTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
         # Set the test environment
         if settings_file:
-            test_environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = settings_file
+            test_environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = str(settings_file)
         elif 'DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE' in test_environ:
             del test_environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE']
         python_path = [base_dir, django_dir, tests_dir]