diff --git a/pymbolic/interop/common.py b/pymbolic/interop/common.py
index 7b986d8cdb981d9b85c744b93e992d991b2211de..256dda7c34565002a99ce3d3235a07e2a78a9b52 100644
--- a/pymbolic/interop/common.py
+++ b/pymbolic/interop/common.py
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class SympyLikeToPymbolicMapper(SympyLikeMapperBase):
     # }}}
 
     def map_Symbol(self, expr):  # noqa
-        return prim.Variable(expr.name)
+        return prim.Variable(str(expr.name))
 
     def map_Rational(self, expr):  # noqa
         p, q = expr.p, expr.q