diff --git a/obd/decoders.py b/obd/decoders.py
index fffca50a..4a7c5e3b 100644
--- a/obd/decoders.py
+++ b/obd/decoders.py
@@ -505,7 +505,8 @@ def decode_encoded_string(messages, length):
     # Encoded strings come in bundles of messages with leading null values to
     # pad out the string to the next full message size. We strip off the
     # leading null characters here and return the resulting string.
-    return d.strip().strip(b'\x00' b'\x01' b'\x02' b'\\x00' b'\\x01' b'\\x02')
+    decoded_string = d.strip().replace(b'\x00', b'').replace(b'\x01', b'').replace(b'\x02', b'').replace(b'\\x00', b'').replace(b'\\x01', b'').replace(b'\\x02', b'')
+    return decoded_string
 
 
 def cvn(messages):