diff --git a/authority/decorators.py b/authority/decorators.py
index eceafc6..a7ec19e 100644
--- a/authority/decorators.py
+++ b/authority/decorators.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import inspect
 from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect
 from django.utils.http import urlquote
 from django.utils.functional import wraps
-from django.utils.six import string_types
 from django.db.models import Model
 from django.apps import apps
 from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404
@@ -13,6 +12,12 @@ from authority.utils import get_check
 from authority.views import permission_denied
 
 
+try:
+    basestring
+except NameError:
+    basestring = str
+
+
 def permission_required(perm, *lookup_variables, **kwargs):
     """
     Decorator for views that checks whether a user has a particular permission
@@ -27,7 +32,7 @@ def permission_required(perm, *lookup_variables, **kwargs):
             if request.user.is_authenticated:
                 params = []
                 for lookup_variable in lookup_variables:
-                    if isinstance(lookup_variable, string_types):
+                    if isinstance(lookup_variable, basestring):
                         value = kwargs.get(lookup_variable, None)
                         if value is None:
                             continue
@@ -37,7 +42,7 @@ def permission_required(perm, *lookup_variables, **kwargs):
                         value = kwargs.get(varname, None)
                         if value is None:
                             continue
-                        if isinstance(model, string_types):
+                        if isinstance(model, basestring):
                             model_class = apps.get_model(*model.split("."))
                         else:
                             model_class = model