diff --git a/sip/asterisk.py b/sip/asterisk.py
index f1da32fe..1c0ed218 100644
--- a/sip/asterisk.py
+++ b/sip/asterisk.py
@@ -315,5 +315,5 @@ class Manager(object):
         if not body_type in ["str", "base64"]:
             raise EnvironmentError("body_type sould be 'str' ou 'base64' not %r" % body_type)
         if body_type == "str":
-            body = base64.encodestring(body).strip()
+            body = base64.b64encode(body).strip()
         return self._action('messageSend', {'to':dst, 'from':src, 'base64body':body})