diff --git a/src/ocrmypdf/exec/ghostscript.py b/src/ocrmypdf/exec/ghostscript.py
index ffada317..60a0f3c6 100644
--- a/src/ocrmypdf/exec/ghostscript.py
+++ b/src/ocrmypdf/exec/ghostscript.py
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ def extract_text(input_file, pageno=1):
         '-dTextFormat=0',
     ] + pages + [
         '-o', '-',
-        input_file
+        fspath(input_file)
     ]
 
     p = run(args_gs, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE)