diff --git a/master_core.py b/master_core.py
index e40f4f2..db5a62a 100644
--- a/master_core.py
+++ b/master_core.py
@@ -7,7 +7,13 @@ import numpy as np
 from mutagen.mp3 import MP3
 from mutagen.easyid3 import EasyID3
 
-from font_manager import safe_title
+
+def safe_title(title):
+  # Deliberately not font_manager.safe_title: that module imports PyQt5 at load
+  # time, and master_core is on the Qt-free web path (the `web` extra has no Qt).
+  if not title:
+    return title
+  return title.encode('utf-8', errors='replace').decode('utf-8')
 
 
 def _try_mp3_tags(file_path):