diff --git a/Lib/importlib/_bootstrap_external.py b/Lib/importlib/_bootstrap_external.py
index 007127b9fd4267..7f236940a5be5f 100644
--- a/Lib/importlib/_bootstrap_external.py
+++ b/Lib/importlib/_bootstrap_external.py
@@ -204,6 +204,17 @@ def _write_atomic(path, data, mode=0o666):
         raise
 
 
+def _fscodec():
+    encoding = sys.getfilesystemencoding()
+    errors = sys.getfilesystemencodeerrors()
+
+    def fsdecode(filename):
+        return filename.decode(encoding, errors)
+
+    return fsdecode
+
+
+_fsdecode = _fscodec()
 _code_type = type(_write_atomic.__code__)
 
 
@@ -1567,6 +1578,9 @@ def __init__(self, path, *loader_details):
         """Initialize with the path to search on and a variable number of
         2-tuples containing the loader and the file suffixes the loader
         recognizes."""
+        if isinstance(path, bytes):
+            path = _fsdecode(path)
+
         loaders = []
         for loader, suffixes in loader_details:
             loaders.extend((suffix, loader) for suffix in suffixes)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_importlib/import_/test_path.py b/Lib/test/test_importlib/import_/test_path.py
index de620842bbc52b..0a4656ba8fed6f 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_importlib/import_/test_path.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_importlib/import_/test_path.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from test.test_importlib import util
+from test.test_importlib import util, fixtures
 
 importlib = util.import_importlib('importlib')
 machinery = util.import_importlib('importlib.machinery')
@@ -116,6 +116,31 @@ def test_None_on_sys_path(self):
             if email is not missing:
                 sys.modules['email'] = email
 
+    def test_bytes_on_sys_path(self):
+        # Putting bytes in sys.path[0] caused an import regression from Python
+        # 3.2: https://bugs.python.org/issue47025
+        with fixtures.tempdir() as tmp_path:
+            (tmp_path / "email.py").write_bytes(b"EXAMPLE = 'bytes_on_sys_path'\n")
+            new_path = sys.path[:]
+            new_path.insert(0, os.fsencode(tmp_path))
+            new_path_importer_cache = sys.path_importer_cache.copy()
+            new_path_hooks = [zipimport.zipimporter,
+                              self.machinery.FileFinder.path_hook(
+                                  *self.importlib._bootstrap_external._get_supported_file_loaders())]
+            missing = object()
+            email = sys.modules.pop('email', missing)
+            try:
+                with util.import_state(meta_path=sys.meta_path[:],
+                                       path=new_path,
+                                       path_importer_cache=new_path_importer_cache,
+                                       path_hooks=new_path_hooks):
+                    module = self.importlib.import_module('email')
+                    self.assertIsInstance(module, ModuleType)
+                    self.assertEqual(module.EXAMPLE, "bytes_on_sys_path")
+            finally:
+                if email is not missing:
+                    sys.modules['email'] = email
+
     def test_finder_with_find_module(self):
         class TestFinder:
             def find_module(self, fullname):
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2022-03-15-11-00-55.bpo-47025.oS8dt6.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2022-03-15-11-00-55.bpo-47025.oS8dt6.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..ca42e52d71df7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2022-03-15-11-00-55.bpo-47025.oS8dt6.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+support bytes on sys.path in FileFinder. Patch by Thomas Grainger.