diff --git a/ebooklib/epub.py b/ebooklib/epub.py
index faa516f..95d39f0 100644
--- a/ebooklib/epub.py
+++ b/ebooklib/epub.py
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ def __init__(self, uid=None, file_name='', media_type='', content=six.b(''), man
           - manifest: Manifest for this item (optional)
         """
         self.id = uid
-        self.file_name = file_name
+        self._file_name = file_name
         self.media_type = media_type
         self.content = content
         self.is_linear = True
@@ -155,6 +155,24 @@ def get_name(self):
         """
         return self.file_name
 
+    @property
+    def file_name(self):
+        # To support Python 2 Unicode path, file_name should be decoded.
+        # And because file_name is a public member previously,
+        # so decoding lies here instead of construction.
+        if isinstance(self._file_name, bytes):
+            return self._file_name.decode("utf-8")
+        else:
+            return self._file_name
+
+    @file_name.setter
+    def file_name(self, value):
+        self._file_name = value
+
+    @file_name.deleter
+    def file_name(self):
+        del self._file_name
+
     def get_type(self):
         """
         Guess type according to the file extension. Might not be the best way how to do it, but it works for now.