diff --git a/lib/xenu_nntp/session.py b/lib/xenu_nntp/session.py
index 61d171a..814ed95 100644
--- a/lib/xenu_nntp/session.py
+++ b/lib/xenu_nntp/session.py
@@ -646,6 +646,9 @@ class Session(Connection):
         def f(s: str):
             return s.replace('\t', ' ').replace('\r', '').replace('\n', ' ').replace('\0', '')
 
+        int_bytes = len(bytes(message.content, 'utf-8'))
+        int_lines = message.body.count('\n') - 2
+
         parts = [
             str(message.id),
             email.header.Header(message.subject).encode(),
@@ -653,8 +656,8 @@ class Session(Connection):
             email.utils.format_datetime(message.created_on),
             message.message_id,
             message.reference_ids or '',
-            str(len(message.content)),
-            str(message.content.count('\n') + 1),
+            str(int_bytes),
+            str(int_lines),
         ]
 
         HEADERS_SKIP = {