diff --git a/gui/qt/main_window.py b/gui/qt/main_window.py
index 6cabf88ed..a8f14c277 100644
--- a/gui/qt/main_window.py
+++ b/gui/qt/main_window.py
@@ -2240,7 +2240,8 @@ class ElectrumWindow(QMainWindow):
             return
         # else if the user scanned an offline signed tx
         # transactions are binary, but qrcode seems to return utf8...
-        z = data.decode('utf8')
+        import base64
+        z = base64.b64decode(data.decode('utf8'))
         data = ''.join(chr(ord(b)) for b in z).encode('hex')
         tx = self.tx_from_text(data)
         if not tx:
diff --git a/gui/qt/transaction_dialog.py b/gui/qt/transaction_dialog.py
index 866057f95..ee5ce9c0b 100644
--- a/gui/qt/transaction_dialog.py
+++ b/gui/qt/transaction_dialog.py
@@ -108,7 +108,9 @@ class TxDialog(QDialog):
 
 
     def show_qr(self):
+        import base64
         text = self.tx.raw.decode('hex')
+        text = base64.b64encode(text)
         try:
             self.parent.show_qrcode(text, 'Transaction')
         except Exception as e: