diff --git a/lib/scripts/lyxpreview2bitmap.py b/lib/scripts/lyxpreview2bitmap.py
index e4bf1314a4..ecefdaf941 100755
--- a/lib/scripts/lyxpreview2bitmap.py
+++ b/lib/scripts/lyxpreview2bitmap.py
@@ -373,6 +373,7 @@ def main(argv):
     dir, latex_file = os.path.split(input_path)
 
     # Echo the settings
+    progress("Running Python %s" % str(sys.version_info[:3]))
     progress("Starting %s..." % script_name)
     progress("Output format: %s" % output_format)
     progress("Foreground color: %s" % fg_color)
@@ -394,6 +395,11 @@ def main(argv):
     fg_color_dvipng = make_texcolor(fg_color, False)
     bg_color_dvipng = make_texcolor(bg_color, False)
 
+    # For python > 2 convert bytes to string
+    if not PY2:
+        fg_color_dvipng = fg_color_dvipng.decode('ascii')
+        bg_color_dvipng = bg_color_dvipng.decode('ascii')
+
     # External programs used by the script.
     latex = find_exe_or_terminate(latex or latex_commands)
     bibtex = find_exe(bibtex or bibtex_commands)
diff --git a/status.23x b/status.23x
index a9f823323f..93202c5d00 100644
--- a/status.23x
+++ b/status.23x
@@ -162,6 +162,8 @@ What's new
 
 - Fix TeX file listing with the Nix package manager.
 
+- Fix Python detection routines, and so instant preview on some platforms
+  (bug 11282).
 
 
 * DOCUMENTATION AND LOCALIZATION