diff --git a/Include/pydebug.h b/Include/pydebug.h
index 3c0fbc2b3af..3b5e34d04e7 100644
--- a/Include/pydebug.h
+++ b/Include/pydebug.h
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ PyAPI_DATA(int) Py_NoSiteFlag;
 PyAPI_DATA(int) Py_UseClassExceptionsFlag;
 PyAPI_DATA(int) Py_FrozenFlag;
 PyAPI_DATA(int) Py_TabcheckFlag;
-PyAPI_DATA(int) Py_UnicodeFlag;
 PyAPI_DATA(int) Py_IgnoreEnvironmentFlag;
 PyAPI_DATA(int) Py_DivisionWarningFlag;
 
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/ccompiler.py b/Lib/distutils/ccompiler.py
index 25d90c8a9a3..50905c1d44c 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/ccompiler.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/ccompiler.py
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ class CCompiler:
     # set_executables ()
 
     def set_executable(self, key, value):
-        if type(value) is StringType:
+        if isinstance(value, basestring):
             setattr(self, key, split_quoted(value))
         else:
             setattr(self, key, value)
@@ -193,8 +193,8 @@ class CCompiler:
             if not (type (defn) is TupleType and
                     (len (defn) == 1 or
                      (len (defn) == 2 and
-                      (type (defn[1]) is StringType or defn[1] is None))) and
-                    type (defn[0]) is StringType):
+                      (isinstance (defn[1], basestring) or defn[1] is None))) and
+                    isinstance (defn[0], basestring)):
                 raise TypeError, \
                       ("invalid macro definition '%s': " % defn) + \
                       "must be tuple (string,), (string, string), or " + \
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ class CCompiler:
         """
         if outdir is None:
             outdir = self.output_dir
-        elif type(outdir) is not StringType:
+        elif not isinstance(outdir, basestring):
             raise TypeError, "'output_dir' must be a string or None"
 
         if macros is None:
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ class CCompiler:
         """
         if output_dir is None:
             output_dir = self.output_dir
-        elif type (output_dir) is not StringType:
+        elif not isinstance(output_dir, basestring):
             raise TypeError, "'output_dir' must be a string or None"
 
         if macros is None:
@@ -527,7 +527,7 @@ class CCompiler:
 
         if output_dir is None:
             output_dir = self.output_dir
-        elif type (output_dir) is not StringType:
+        elif not isinstance(output_dir, basestring):
             raise TypeError, "'output_dir' must be a string or None"
 
         return (objects, output_dir)
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/cmd.py b/Lib/distutils/cmd.py
index ebd99310ea7..ea3799af16f 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/cmd.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/cmd.py
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ class Command:
         if val is None:
             setattr(self, option, default)
             return default
-        elif type(val) is not StringType:
+        elif not isinstance(val, basestring):
             raise DistutilsOptionError, \
                   "'%s' must be a %s (got `%s`)" % (option, what, val)
         return val
@@ -242,12 +242,11 @@ class Command:
         val = getattr(self, option)
         if val is None:
             return
-        elif type(val) is StringType:
+        elif isinstance(val, basestring):
             setattr(self, option, re.split(r',\s*|\s+', val))
         else:
             if type(val) is ListType:
-                types = map(type, val)
-                ok = (types == [StringType] * len(val))
+                ok = all(isinstance(v, basestring) for v in val)
             else:
                 ok = 0
 
@@ -421,7 +420,7 @@ class Command:
 
 
         # Allow 'infiles' to be a single string
-        if type(infiles) is StringType:
+        if isinstance(infiles, basestring):
             infiles = (infiles,)
         elif type(infiles) not in (ListType, TupleType):
             raise TypeError, \
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/build_clib.py b/Lib/distutils/command/build_clib.py
index 07f58179862..5434e86c86f 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/build_clib.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/build_clib.py
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ class build_clib (Command):
 
         if self.include_dirs is None:
             self.include_dirs = self.distribution.include_dirs or []
-        if type(self.include_dirs) is StringType:
+        if isinstance(self.include_dirs, basestring):
             self.include_dirs = self.include_dirs.split(os.pathsep)
 
         # XXX same as for build_ext -- what about 'self.define' and
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ class build_clib (Command):
                 raise DistutilsSetupError, \
                       "each element of 'libraries' must a 2-tuple"
 
-            if type(lib[0]) is not StringType:
+            if isinstance(lib[0], basestring) StringType:
                 raise DistutilsSetupError, \
                       "first element of each tuple in 'libraries' " + \
                       "must be a string (the library name)"
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py b/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
index 2832d5717b0..0236a268357 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ class build_ext (Command):
         plat_py_include = sysconfig.get_python_inc(plat_specific=1)
         if self.include_dirs is None:
             self.include_dirs = self.distribution.include_dirs or []
-        if type(self.include_dirs) is StringType:
+        if isinstance(self.include_dirs, basestring):
             self.include_dirs = self.include_dirs.split(os.pathsep)
 
         # Put the Python "system" include dir at the end, so that
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ class build_ext (Command):
         if plat_py_include != py_include:
             self.include_dirs.append(plat_py_include)
 
-        if type(self.libraries) is StringType:
+        if isinstance(self.libraries, basestring):
             self.libraries = [self.libraries]
 
         # Life is easier if we're not forever checking for None, so
@@ -155,12 +155,12 @@ class build_ext (Command):
             self.libraries = []
         if self.library_dirs is None:
             self.library_dirs = []
-        elif type(self.library_dirs) is StringType:
+        elif isinstance(self.library_dirs, basestring):
             self.library_dirs = self.library_dirs.split(os.pathsep)
 
         if self.rpath is None:
             self.rpath = []
-        elif type(self.rpath) is StringType:
+        elif isinstance(self.rpath, basestring):
             self.rpath = self.rpath.split(os.pathsep)
 
         # for extensions under windows use different directories
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ class build_ext (Command):
                       ("each element of 'ext_modules' option must be an "
                        "Extension instance or 2-tuple")
 
-            if not (type(ext_name) is StringType and
+            if not (isinstance(ext_name, basestring) and
                     extension_name_re.match(ext_name)):
                 raise DistutilsSetupError, \
                       ("first element of each tuple in 'ext_modules' "
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/build_py.py b/Lib/distutils/command/build_py.py
index 990824bdff7..52534bdb475 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/build_py.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/build_py.py
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ class build_py (Command):
 
 
     def build_module (self, module, module_file, package):
-        if type(package) is StringType:
+        if isinstance(package, basestring):
             package = package.split('.')
         elif type(package) not in (ListType, TupleType):
             raise TypeError, \
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/config.py b/Lib/distutils/command/config.py
index 3374db9e66f..04cfcde7367 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/config.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/config.py
@@ -73,17 +73,17 @@ class config (Command):
     def finalize_options (self):
         if self.include_dirs is None:
             self.include_dirs = self.distribution.include_dirs or []
-        elif type(self.include_dirs) is StringType:
+        elif isinstance(self.include_dirs, basestring):
             self.include_dirs = self.include_dirs.split(os.pathsep)
 
         if self.libraries is None:
             self.libraries = []
-        elif type(self.libraries) is StringType:
+        elif isinstance(self.libraries, basestring):
             self.libraries = [self.libraries]
 
         if self.library_dirs is None:
             self.library_dirs = []
-        elif type(self.library_dirs) is StringType:
+        elif isinstance(self.library_dirs, basestring):
             self.library_dirs = self.library_dirs.split(os.pathsep)
 
 
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ class config (Command):
         self._check_compiler()
         (src, out) = self._preprocess(body, headers, include_dirs, lang)
 
-        if type(pattern) is StringType:
+        if isinstance(pattern, basestring):
             pattern = re.compile(pattern)
 
         file = open(out)
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/install.py b/Lib/distutils/command/install.py
index c03a90e82c2..cc92e963681 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/install.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/install.py
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ class install (Command):
             self.extra_path = self.distribution.extra_path
 
         if self.extra_path is not None:
-            if type(self.extra_path) is StringType:
+            if isinstance(self.extra_path, basestring):
                 self.extra_path = self.extra_path.split(',')
 
             if len(self.extra_path) == 1:
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/install_data.py b/Lib/distutils/command/install_data.py
index 1069830fb31..a95194426b3 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/install_data.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/install_data.py
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ platform-independent data files."""
 __revision__ = "$Id$"
 
 import os
-from types import StringType
 from distutils.core import Command
 from distutils.util import change_root, convert_path
 
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ class install_data (Command):
     def run (self):
         self.mkpath(self.install_dir)
         for f in self.data_files:
-            if type(f) is StringType:
+            if isinstance(f, basestring):
                 # it's a simple file, so copy it
                 f = convert_path(f)
                 if self.warn_dir:
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/dir_util.py b/Lib/distutils/dir_util.py
index 398f242974b..c6f014b2609 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/dir_util.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/dir_util.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ def mkpath (name, mode=0777, verbose=0, dry_run=0):
     global _path_created
 
     # Detect a common bug -- name is None
-    if not isinstance(name, StringTypes):
+    if not isinstance(name, basestring):
         raise DistutilsInternalError, \
               "mkpath: 'name' must be a string (got %r)" % (name,)
 
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/dist.py b/Lib/distutils/dist.py
index 7ed1b5cf2c6..89390fb2c51 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/dist.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/dist.py
@@ -598,13 +598,13 @@ Common commands: (see '--help-commands' for more)
 
         keywords = self.metadata.keywords
         if keywords is not None:
-            if type(keywords) is StringType:
+            if isinstance(keywords, basestring):
                 keywordlist = keywords.split(',')
                 self.metadata.keywords = [x.strip() for x in keywordlist]
 
         platforms = self.metadata.platforms
         if platforms is not None:
-            if type(platforms) is StringType:
+            if isinstance(platforms, basestring):
                 platformlist = platforms.split(',')
                 self.metadata.platforms = [x.strip() for x in platformlist]
 
@@ -906,7 +906,7 @@ Common commands: (see '--help-commands' for more)
                 neg_opt = {}
 
             try:
-                is_string = type(value) is StringType
+                is_string = isinstance(value, basestring)
                 if option in neg_opt and is_string:
                     setattr(command_obj, neg_opt[option], not strtobool(value))
                 elif option in bool_opts and is_string:
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/extension.py b/Lib/distutils/extension.py
index 0fcbcc141af..7fe846b8a86 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/extension.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/extension.py
@@ -103,9 +103,9 @@ class Extension:
                   language=None,
                   **kw                      # To catch unknown keywords
                  ):
-        assert type(name) is StringType, "'name' must be a string"
+        assert isinstance(name, basestring), "'name' must be a string"
         assert (type(sources) is ListType and
-                map(type, sources) == [StringType]*len(sources)), \
+                all(isinstance(v, basestring) for v in sources)), \
                 "'sources' must be a list of strings"
 
         self.name = name
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/fancy_getopt.py b/Lib/distutils/fancy_getopt.py
index 317a3a4860d..82e1f4d1dcf 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/fancy_getopt.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/fancy_getopt.py
@@ -166,13 +166,13 @@ class FancyGetopt:
                 raise ValueError, "invalid option tuple: %r" % (option,)
 
             # Type- and value-check the option names
-            if type(long) is not StringType or len(long) < 2:
+            if not isinstance(long, basestring) or len(long) < 2:
                 raise DistutilsGetoptError, \
                       ("invalid long option '%s': "
                        "must be a string of length >= 2") % long
 
             if (not ((short is None) or
-                     (type(short) is StringType and len(short) == 1))):
+                     (isinstance(short, basestring) and len(short) == 1))):
                 raise DistutilsGetoptError, \
                       ("invalid short option '%s': "
                        "must a single character or None") % short
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/filelist.py b/Lib/distutils/filelist.py
index bc668cfad34..a0523531c78 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/filelist.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/filelist.py
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ def translate_pattern (pattern, anchor=1, prefix=None, is_regex=0):
     or just returned as-is (assumes it's a regex object).
     """
     if is_regex:
-        if type(pattern) is StringType:
+        if isinstance(pattern, basestring):
             return re.compile(pattern)
         else:
             return pattern
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/unixccompiler.py b/Lib/distutils/unixccompiler.py
index 0795f1206de..a42ab5ed424 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/unixccompiler.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/unixccompiler.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ the "typical" Unix-style command-line C compiler:
 __revision__ = "$Id$"
 
 import os, sys
-from types import StringType, NoneType
+from types import NoneType
 from copy import copy
 
 from distutils import sysconfig
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ class UnixCCompiler(CCompiler):
 
         lib_opts = gen_lib_options(self, library_dirs, runtime_library_dirs,
                                    libraries)
-        if type(output_dir) not in (StringType, NoneType):
+        if not isinstance(output_dir, (basestring, NoneType)):
             raise TypeError, "'output_dir' must be a string or None"
         if output_dir is not None:
             output_filename = os.path.join(output_dir, output_filename)
diff --git a/Lib/locale.py b/Lib/locale.py
index d3294ce6636..35f4a7953e2 100644
--- a/Lib/locale.py
+++ b/Lib/locale.py
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ def setlocale(category, locale=None):
         category may be given as one of the LC_* values.
 
     """
-    if locale and type(locale) is not type(""):
+    if locale and not isinstance(locale, basestring):
         # convert to string
         locale = normalize(_build_localename(locale))
     return _setlocale(category, locale)
diff --git a/Lib/os.py b/Lib/os.py
index fdb3bed8529..34359c183d3 100644
--- a/Lib/os.py
+++ b/Lib/os.py
@@ -733,8 +733,8 @@ if not _exists("urandom"):
             _urandomfd = open("/dev/urandom", O_RDONLY)
         except (OSError, IOError):
             raise NotImplementedError("/dev/urandom (or equivalent) not found")
-        bytes = ""
-        while len(bytes) < n:
-            bytes += read(_urandomfd, n - len(bytes))
+        bs = b""
+        while len(bs) < n:
+            bs += read(_urandomfd, n - len(bs))
         close(_urandomfd)
-        return bytes
+        return bs
diff --git a/Lib/sre_compile.py b/Lib/sre_compile.py
index f6cbd7bc8ea..4f2fb046127 100644
--- a/Lib/sre_compile.py
+++ b/Lib/sre_compile.py
@@ -470,18 +470,8 @@ def _compile_info(code, pattern, flags):
         _compile_charset(charset, flags, code)
     code[skip] = len(code) - skip
 
-try:
-    unicode
-except NameError:
-    STRING_TYPES = (type(""),)
-else:
-    STRING_TYPES = (type(""), type(unicode("")))
-
 def isstring(obj):
-    for tp in STRING_TYPES:
-        if isinstance(obj, tp):
-            return 1
-    return 0
+    return isinstance(obj, basestring)
 
 def _code(p, flags):
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_builtin.py b/Lib/test/test_builtin.py
index ffa74afa4de..acb0d458119 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_builtin.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_builtin.py
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ if have_unicode:
         (unicode('100'), 100),
         (unicode('314'), 314),
         (unicode(' 314'), 314),
-        (unicode('\u0663\u0661\u0664 ','raw-unicode-escape'), 314),
+        (unicode(b'\u0663\u0661\u0664 ','raw-unicode-escape'), 314),
         (unicode('  \t\t  314  \t\t  '), 314),
         (unicode('  1x'), ValueError),
         (unicode('  1  '), 1),
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ class BuiltinTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(chr(65), 'A')
         self.assertEqual(chr(97), 'a')
         self.assertEqual(chr(0xff), '\xff')
-        self.assertRaises(ValueError, chr, 256)
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, chr, 1<<24)
         self.assertRaises(TypeError, chr)
 
     def XXX_test_cmp(self):
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ class BuiltinTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_compile(self):
         compile('print(1)\n', '', 'exec')
         bom = '\xef\xbb\xbf'
-        compile(bom + 'print(1)\n', '', 'exec')
+        compile((bom + 'print(1)\n').encode("latin-1"), '', 'exec')
         compile(source='pass', filename='?', mode='exec')
         compile(dont_inherit=0, filename='tmp', source='0', mode='eval')
         compile('pass', '?', dont_inherit=1, mode='exec')
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ class BuiltinTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertRaises(TypeError, compile, 'pass', '?', 'exec',
                           mode='eval', source='0', filename='tmp')
         if have_unicode:
-            compile(unicode('print(u"\xc3\xa5")\n', 'utf8'), '', 'exec')
+            compile(unicode(b'print(u"\xc3\xa5")\n', 'utf8'), '', 'exec')
             self.assertRaises(TypeError, compile, unichr(0), 'f', 'exec')
             self.assertRaises(ValueError, compile, unicode('a = 1'), 'f', 'bad')
 
@@ -339,9 +339,9 @@ class BuiltinTest(unittest.TestCase):
             self.assertEqual(eval(unicode('b'), globals, locals), 200)
             self.assertEqual(eval(unicode('c'), globals, locals), 300)
             bom = '\xef\xbb\xbf'
-            self.assertEqual(eval(bom + 'a', globals, locals), 1)
-            self.assertEqual(eval(unicode('u"\xc3\xa5"', 'utf8'), globals),
-                             unicode('\xc3\xa5', 'utf8'))
+            self.assertEqual(eval((bom + 'a').encode("latin-1"), globals, locals), 1)
+            self.assertEqual(eval(unicode(b'u"\xc3\xa5"', 'utf8'), globals),
+                             unicode(b'\xc3\xa5', 'utf8'))
         self.assertRaises(TypeError, eval)
         self.assertRaises(TypeError, eval, ())
 
@@ -608,7 +608,7 @@ class BuiltinTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertRaises(ValueError, float, "  -0x3.p-1  ")
         if have_unicode:
             self.assertEqual(float(unicode("  3.14  ")), 3.14)
-            self.assertEqual(float(unicode("  \u0663.\u0661\u0664  ",'raw-unicode-escape')), 3.14)
+            self.assertEqual(float(unicode(b"  \u0663.\u0661\u0664  ",'raw-unicode-escape')), 3.14)
             # Implementation limitation in PyFloat_FromString()
             self.assertRaises(ValueError, float, unicode("1"*10000))
 
@@ -1673,7 +1673,7 @@ class BuiltinTest(unittest.TestCase):
             self.assertEqual(unichr(97), unicode('a'))
             self.assertEqual(
                 unichr(sys.maxunicode),
-                unicode('\\U%08x' % (sys.maxunicode), 'unicode-escape')
+                unicode(('\\U%08x' % (sys.maxunicode)).encode("ascii"), 'unicode-escape')
             )
             self.assertRaises(ValueError, unichr, sys.maxunicode+1)
             self.assertRaises(TypeError, unichr)
diff --git a/Modules/posixmodule.c b/Modules/posixmodule.c
index 12b34726c21..3922a506ca2 100644
--- a/Modules/posixmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/posixmodule.c
@@ -6163,7 +6163,8 @@ Read a file descriptor.");
 static PyObject *
 posix_read(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
-	int fd, size, n;
+	int fd, size;
+        Py_ssize_t n;
 	PyObject *buffer;
 	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "ii:read", &fd, &size))
 		return NULL;
@@ -6171,18 +6172,18 @@ posix_read(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 		errno = EINVAL;
 		return posix_error();
 	}
-	buffer = PyString_FromStringAndSize((char *)NULL, size);
+	buffer = PyBytes_FromStringAndSize((char *)NULL, size);
 	if (buffer == NULL)
 		return NULL;
 	Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
-	n = read(fd, PyString_AsString(buffer), size);
+	n = read(fd, PyBytes_AsString(buffer), size);
 	Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS
 	if (n < 0) {
 		Py_DECREF(buffer);
 		return posix_error();
 	}
 	if (n != size)
-		_PyString_Resize(&buffer, n);
+		PyBytes_Resize(buffer, n);
 	return buffer;
 }
 
@@ -8841,5 +8842,3 @@ INITFUNC(void)
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
-
-
diff --git a/Objects/moduleobject.c b/Objects/moduleobject.c
index e454fcf3210..18914d8f505 100644
--- a/Objects/moduleobject.c
+++ b/Objects/moduleobject.c
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ PyModule_GetName(PyObject *m)
 {
 	PyObject *d;
 	PyObject *nameobj;
+	char *s;
 	if (!PyModule_Check(m)) {
 		PyErr_BadArgument();
 		return NULL;
@@ -66,11 +67,13 @@ PyModule_GetName(PyObject *m)
 	d = ((PyModuleObject *)m)->md_dict;
 	if (d == NULL ||
 	    (nameobj = PyDict_GetItemString(d, "__name__")) == NULL ||
-	    !PyString_Check(nameobj))
+	    !(PyString_Check(nameobj) || PyUnicode_Check(nameobj)))
 	{
 		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_SystemError, "nameless module");
 		return NULL;
 	}
+        if (PyUnicode_Check(nameobj))
+		nameobj = _PyUnicode_AsDefaultEncodedString(nameobj, "replace");
 	return PyString_AsString(nameobj);
 }
 
diff --git a/Objects/unicodeobject.c b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
index ce28692d7b3..e2f1b2fd206 100644
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
@@ -2072,7 +2072,6 @@ PyObject *unicodeescape_string(const Py_UNICODE *s,
     p = PyString_AS_STRING(repr);
 
     if (quotes) {
-        *p++ = 'u';
         *p++ = (findchar(s, size, '\'') &&
                 !findchar(s, size, '"')) ? '"' : '\'';
     }
@@ -2081,7 +2080,7 @@ PyObject *unicodeescape_string(const Py_UNICODE *s,
 
         /* Escape quotes and backslashes */
         if ((quotes &&
-	     ch == (Py_UNICODE) PyString_AS_STRING(repr)[1]) || ch == '\\') {
+	     ch == (Py_UNICODE) PyString_AS_STRING(repr)[0]) || ch == '\\') {
             *p++ = '\\';
             *p++ = (char) ch;
 	    continue;
@@ -2167,7 +2166,7 @@ PyObject *unicodeescape_string(const Py_UNICODE *s,
             *p++ = (char) ch;
     }
     if (quotes)
-        *p++ = PyString_AS_STRING(repr)[1];
+        *p++ = PyString_AS_STRING(repr)[0];
 
     *p = '\0';
     _PyString_Resize(&repr, p - PyString_AS_STRING(repr));
diff --git a/Python/ast.c b/Python/ast.c
index 8b91894889c..d7e3b360479 100644
--- a/Python/ast.c
+++ b/Python/ast.c
@@ -3187,7 +3187,7 @@ parsestr(const node *n, const char *encoding, int *bytesmode)
         }
     }
 #ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
-    if (unicode || Py_UnicodeFlag) {
+    if (!*bytesmode) {
         return decode_unicode(s, len, rawmode, encoding);
     }
 #endif
diff --git a/Python/bltinmodule.c b/Python/bltinmodule.c
index 17cdb92c31d..fef001d051c 100644
--- a/Python/bltinmodule.c
+++ b/Python/bltinmodule.c
@@ -2270,7 +2270,7 @@ static PyMethodDef builtin_methods[] = {
  	{"all",		builtin_all,        METH_O, all_doc},
  	{"any",		builtin_any,        METH_O, any_doc},
  	{"callable",	builtin_callable,   METH_O, callable_doc},
- 	{"chr",		builtin_chr,        METH_VARARGS, chr_doc},
+ 	{"chr",		builtin_unichr,     METH_VARARGS, chr_doc},
  	{"cmp",		builtin_cmp,        METH_VARARGS, cmp_doc},
  	{"compile",	(PyCFunction)builtin_compile,    METH_VARARGS | METH_KEYWORDS, compile_doc},
  	{"delattr",	builtin_delattr,    METH_VARARGS, delattr_doc},
@@ -2375,7 +2375,7 @@ _PyBuiltin_Init(void)
 	SETBUILTIN("set",		&PySet_Type);
 	SETBUILTIN("slice",		&PySlice_Type);
 	SETBUILTIN("staticmethod",	&PyStaticMethod_Type);
-	SETBUILTIN("str",		&PyString_Type);
+	SETBUILTIN("str",		&PyUnicode_Type);
 	SETBUILTIN("super",		&PySuper_Type);
 	SETBUILTIN("tuple",		&PyTuple_Type);
 	SETBUILTIN("type",		&PyType_Type);
diff --git a/Python/ceval.c b/Python/ceval.c
index fdee13d30a5..00fc05011f7 100644
--- a/Python/ceval.c
+++ b/Python/ceval.c
@@ -2633,7 +2633,7 @@ PyEval_EvalCodeEx(PyCodeObject *co, PyObject *globals, PyObject *locals,
 			PyObject *keyword = kws[2*i];
 			PyObject *value = kws[2*i + 1];
 			int j;
-			if (keyword == NULL || !PyString_Check(keyword)) {
+			if (keyword == NULL || !(PyString_Check(keyword) || PyUnicode_Check(keyword))) {
 				PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 				    "%.200s() keywords must be strings",
 				    PyString_AsString(co->co_name));
diff --git a/Python/getargs.c b/Python/getargs.c
index 91d9b47aaf5..3b58c98295d 100644
--- a/Python/getargs.c
+++ b/Python/getargs.c
@@ -1081,7 +1081,7 @@ convertsimple(PyObject *arg, const char **p_format, va_list *p_va, int flags,
 
 	case 'S': { /* string object */
 		PyObject **p = va_arg(*p_va, PyObject **);
-		if (PyString_Check(arg))
+		if (PyString_Check(arg) || PyUnicode_Check(arg))
 			*p = arg;
 		else
 			return converterr("string", arg, msgbuf, bufsize);
@@ -1531,7 +1531,7 @@ vgetargskeywords(PyObject *args, PyObject *keywords, const char *format,
 		while (PyDict_Next(keywords, &pos, &key, &value)) {
 			int match = 0;
 			char *ks;
-			if (!PyString_Check(key)) {
+			if (!PyString_Check(key) && !PyUnicode_Check(key)) {
 				PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, 
 					        "keywords must be strings");
 				return cleanreturn(0, freelist);
diff --git a/Python/import.c b/Python/import.c
index 23508008a1d..6d742b9b41e 100644
--- a/Python/import.c
+++ b/Python/import.c
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ _PyImport_Init(void)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (Py_UnicodeFlag) {
+	{
 		/* Fix the pyc_magic so that byte compiled code created
 		   using the all-Unicode method doesn't interfere with
 		   code created in normal operation mode. */
diff --git a/Python/pythonrun.c b/Python/pythonrun.c
index 8ff36295110..3d16ba5b665 100644
--- a/Python/pythonrun.c
+++ b/Python/pythonrun.c
@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@ int Py_InspectFlag; /* Needed to determine whether to exit at SystemError */
 int Py_NoSiteFlag; /* Suppress 'import site' */
 int Py_UseClassExceptionsFlag = 1; /* Needed by bltinmodule.c: deprecated */
 int Py_FrozenFlag; /* Needed by getpath.c */
-int Py_UnicodeFlag = 0; /* Needed by compile.c */
 int Py_IgnoreEnvironmentFlag; /* e.g. PYTHONPATH, PYTHONHOME */
 
 /* Reference to 'warnings' module, to avoid importing it