diff --git a/python/test/test_pack.py b/python/test/test_pack.py
index 2aef588b..2b5f1ade 100644
--- a/python/test/test_pack.py
+++ b/python/test/test_pack.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 from nose import main
 from nose.tools import *
+from nose.plugins.skip import SkipTest
 
 from msgpack import packs, unpacks
 
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ def testPack():
             0, 1, 127, 128, 255, 256, 65535, 65536,
             -1, -32, -33, -128, -129, -32768, -32769,
             1.0,
-        b"", b"a", b"a"*31, b"a"*32,
+        "", "a", "a"*31, "a"*32,
         None, True, False,
         (), ((),), ((), None,),
         {None: 0},
@@ -33,36 +34,40 @@ def testPackUnicode():
         assert_equal(re, td)
 
 def testPackUTF32():
-    test_data = [
-        u"", u"abcd", (u"defgh",), u"Русский текст",
-        ]
-    for td in test_data:
-        print(packs(td, encoding='utf-32'))
-        re = unpacks(packs(td, encoding='utf-32'), encoding='utf-32')
-        assert_equal(re, td)
+    try:
+        test_data = [
+            u"", u"abcd", (u"defgh",), u"Русский текст",
+            ]
+        for td in test_data:
+            re = unpacks(packs(td, encoding='utf-32'), encoding='utf-32')
+            assert_equal(re, td)
+    except LookupError:
+        raise SkipTest
 
 def testPackBytes():
     test_data = [
-        b"", b"abcd", (b"defgh",),
+        "", "abcd", ("defgh",),
         ]
     for td in test_data:
         check(td)
 
 def testIgnoreUnicodeErrors():
-    re = unpacks(packs(b'abc\xeddef'),
-        encoding='utf-8', unicode_errors='ignore')
+    re = unpacks(packs('abc\xeddef'),
+        encoding='ascii', unicode_errors='ignore')
     assert_equal(re, "abcdef")
 
 @raises(UnicodeDecodeError)
 def testStrictUnicodeUnpack():
-    unpacks(packs(b'abc\xeddef'), encoding='utf-8')
+    unpacks(packs('abc\xeddef'), encoding='utf-8')
 
 @raises(UnicodeEncodeError)
 def testStrictUnicodePack():
     packs(u"abc\xeddef", encoding='ascii', unicode_errors='strict')
 
 def testIgnoreErrorsPack():
-    re = unpacks(packs(u"abcФФФdef", encoding='ascii', unicode_errors='ignore'), encoding='utf-8')
+    re = unpacks(
+            packs(u"abcФФФdef", encoding='ascii', unicode_errors='ignore'),
+            encoding='utf-8')
     assert_equal(re, u"abcdef")
 
 @raises(TypeError)
@@ -71,7 +76,7 @@ def testNoEncoding():
 
 def testDecodeBinary():
     re = unpacks(packs(u"abc"), encoding=None)
-    assert_equal(re, b"abc")
+    assert_equal(re, "abc")
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     main()
diff --git a/python/test/test_sequnpack.py b/python/test/test_sequnpack.py
index c92658c1..d61be230 100644
--- a/python/test/test_sequnpack.py
+++ b/python/test/test_sequnpack.py
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@ from msgpack import Unpacker
 def test_foobar():
     unpacker = Unpacker(read_size=3)
     unpacker.feed('foobar')
-    assert unpacker.unpack() == ord(b'f')
-    assert unpacker.unpack() == ord(b'o')
-    assert unpacker.unpack() == ord(b'o')
-    assert unpacker.unpack() == ord(b'b')
-    assert unpacker.unpack() == ord(b'a')
-    assert unpacker.unpack() == ord(b'r')
+    assert unpacker.unpack() == ord('f')
+    assert unpacker.unpack() == ord('o')
+    assert unpacker.unpack() == ord('o')
+    assert unpacker.unpack() == ord('b')
+    assert unpacker.unpack() == ord('a')
+    assert unpacker.unpack() == ord('r')
     try:
         o = unpacker.unpack()
         print "Oops!", o
@@ -20,14 +20,14 @@ def test_foobar():
         assert 1
     else:
         assert 0
-    unpacker.feed(b'foo')
-    unpacker.feed(b'bar')
+    unpacker.feed('foo')
+    unpacker.feed('bar')
 
     k = 0
-    for o, e in zip(unpacker, b'foobarbaz'):
+    for o, e in zip(unpacker, 'foobarbaz'):
         assert o == ord(e)
         k += 1
-    assert k == len(b'foobar')
+    assert k == len('foobar')
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     test_foobar()