diff --git a/scrapy/extensions/feedexport.py b/scrapy/extensions/feedexport.py
index ce2846eba..981efee55 100644
--- a/scrapy/extensions/feedexport.py
+++ b/scrapy/extensions/feedexport.py
@@ -199,9 +199,9 @@ class FeedExporter(object):
 
     def __init__(self, settings):
         self.settings = settings
-        self.urifmt = settings['FEED_URI']
-        if not self.urifmt:
+        if not settings['FEED_URI']:
             raise NotConfigured
+        self.urifmt=str(settings['FEED_URI'])
         self.format = settings['FEED_FORMAT'].lower()
         self.export_encoding = settings['FEED_EXPORT_ENCODING']
         self.storages = self._load_components('FEED_STORAGES')