diff --git a/pr_agent/git_providers/gitea_provider.py b/pr_agent/git_providers/gitea_provider.py
index 89a6248e9b..a00be44caa 100644
--- a/pr_agent/git_providers/gitea_provider.py
+++ b/pr_agent/git_providers/gitea_provider.py
@@ -605,11 +605,11 @@ def get_pr_labels(self,update=False) -> List[str]:
 
         return [label.name for label in labels]
 
-    def get_repo_settings(self) -> str:
+    def get_repo_settings(self) -> bytes:
         """Get repository settings"""
         if not self.repo_settings:
             self.logger.error("Repository settings not found")
-            return ""
+            return b""
 
         response = self.repo_api.get_file_content(
             owner=self.owner,
@@ -619,9 +619,13 @@ def get_repo_settings(self) -> str:
         )
         if not response:
             self.logger.error("Failed to get repository settings")
-            return ""
+            return b""
 
-        return response
+        # utils.apply_repo_settings() writes this via os.write() and later
+        # calls .decode() on it, so it must be bytes to match the GitHub/
+        # GitLab/Bitbucket contract. get_file_content() decodes the raw bytes
+        # to str, so re-encode here (see issue #2347).
+        return response.encode('utf-8')
 
     def get_user_id(self) -> str:
         """Get the ID of the authenticated user"""
diff --git a/tests/unittest/test_gitea_provider.py b/tests/unittest/test_gitea_provider.py
index 4174b398d0..f3d2bc0620 100644
--- a/tests/unittest/test_gitea_provider.py
+++ b/tests/unittest/test_gitea_provider.py
@@ -103,3 +103,48 @@ def call_api_side_effect(path, method, **kwargs):
         args, kwargs = mock_api_client.call_api.call_args
         assert args[0] == '/repos/owner/repo/pulls/123/commits'
         assert kwargs.get('auth_settings') == ['AuthorizationHeaderToken']
+
+    def test_get_repo_settings_returns_bytes(self):
+        """Regression for #2347: get_repo_settings must return bytes so that
+        utils.apply_repo_settings can os.write() it and later .decode() it. The
+        Gitea raw-file API yields str (unlike GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket, which hand
+        back bytes), so the provider must encode before returning."""
+        from pr_agent.git_providers.gitea_provider import GiteaProvider
+
+        toml = '[pr_reviewer]\nnum_code_suggestions = 4\n'
+        provider = GiteaProvider.__new__(GiteaProvider)
+        provider.logger = MagicMock()
+        provider.owner = 'owner'
+        provider.repo = 'repo'
+        provider.sha = 'sha1'
+        provider.repo_settings = '.pr_agent.toml'
+        provider.repo_api = MagicMock()
+        provider.repo_api.get_file_content.return_value = toml  # API decodes to str
+
+        result = provider.get_repo_settings()
+
+        assert isinstance(result, bytes)
+        assert result == toml.encode('utf-8')
+        # The bytes must survive the exact operations utils.py performs on them.
+        assert result.decode() == toml
+
+    def test_get_repo_settings_empty_bytes_when_unset_or_missing(self):
+        """No settings path configured, or empty/absent file: return empty
+        bytes, so every code path honours the -> bytes contract (not just the
+        success path) and a caller can never receive a str."""
+        from pr_agent.git_providers.gitea_provider import GiteaProvider
+
+        unset = GiteaProvider.__new__(GiteaProvider)
+        unset.logger = MagicMock()
+        unset.repo_settings = None
+        assert unset.get_repo_settings() == b""
+
+        empty = GiteaProvider.__new__(GiteaProvider)
+        empty.logger = MagicMock()
+        empty.owner = 'owner'
+        empty.repo = 'repo'
+        empty.sha = 'sha1'
+        empty.repo_settings = '.pr_agent.toml'
+        empty.repo_api = MagicMock()
+        empty.repo_api.get_file_content.return_value = ''
+        assert empty.get_repo_settings() == b""