diff --git a/Lib/xml/dom/pulldom.py b/Lib/xml/dom/pulldom.py
index fe9a3a2196e..c1463c91c06 100644
--- a/Lib/xml/dom/pulldom.py
+++ b/Lib/xml/dom/pulldom.py
@@ -2,11 +2,6 @@ import xml.sax
 import xml.sax.handler
 import types
 
-try:
-    _StringTypes = [types.StringType, types.UnicodeType]
-except AttributeError:
-    _StringTypes = [types.StringType]
-
 START_ELEMENT = "START_ELEMENT"
 END_ELEMENT = "END_ELEMENT"
 COMMENT = "COMMENT"
@@ -330,7 +325,7 @@ default_bufsize = (2 ** 14) - 20
 def parse(stream_or_string, parser=None, bufsize=None):
     if bufsize is None:
         bufsize = default_bufsize
-    if type(stream_or_string) in _StringTypes:
+    if isinstance(stream_or_string, basestring):
         stream = open(stream_or_string)
     else:
         stream = stream_or_string