diff --git a/sanic/response.py b/sanic/response.py
index 1f86a807..c09c8dbd 100644
--- a/sanic/response.py
+++ b/sanic/response.py
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ class HTTPResponse:
 
         if body is not None:
             self.body = body
-            if type(body) is str:
+            if isinstance(body,  str):
                 self.body = body.encode('utf-8')
         else:
             self.body = body_bytes