Index: pygobject-2.16.1/codegen/definitions.py
===================================================================
--- pygobject-2.16.1.orig/codegen/definitions.py	2009-03-02 11:56:03.000000000 +0000
+++ pygobject-2.16.1/codegen/definitions.py	2009-03-02 11:56:20.000000000 +0000
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@
     def __new__(cls, *args, **kwds):
         return str.__new__(cls, *args[:1])
     def __init__(self, type_name, optional=False):
-        str.__init__(self, type_name)
+        str.__init__(self)
+        self.type_name = type_name
         self.optional = optional
 
 # Parameter for property based constructors
