diff --git a/avatar/utils.py b/avatar/utils.py
index 6660fc8..f09b648 100644
--- a/avatar/utils.py
+++ b/avatar/utils.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ cached_funcs = set()
 
 
 def get_username(user):
-    """ Return username of a User instance """
+    """Return username of a User instance"""
     if hasattr(user, "get_username"):
         return user.get_username()
     else:
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def get_username(user):
 
 
 def get_user(username):
-    """ Return user from a username/ish identifier """
+    """Return user from a username/ish identifier"""
     return get_user_model().objects.get_by_natural_key(username)
 
 
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index cf9fde9..35af91b 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ source_suffix = ".txt"
 master_doc = "index"
 
 # General information about the project.
-project = u"django-avatar"
-copyright = u"2013, django-avatar developers"
+project = "django-avatar"
+copyright = "2013, django-avatar developers"
 
 # The version info for the project you're documenting, acts as replacement for
 # |version| and |release|, also used in various other places throughout the
@@ -187,8 +187,8 @@ latex_documents = [
     (
         "index",
         "django-avatar.tex",
-        u"django-avatar Documentation",
-        u"django-avatar developers",
+        "django-avatar Documentation",
+        "django-avatar developers",
         "manual",
     ),
 ]
@@ -222,8 +222,8 @@ man_pages = [
     (
         "index",
         "django-avatar",
-        u"django-avatar Documentation",
-        [u"django-avatar developers"],
+        "django-avatar Documentation",
+        ["django-avatar developers"],
         1,
     )
 ]
@@ -241,8 +241,8 @@ texinfo_documents = [
     (
         "index",
         "django-avatar",
-        u"django-avatar Documentation",
-        u"django-avatar developers",
+        "django-avatar Documentation",
+        "django-avatar developers",
         "django-avatar",
         "One line description of project.",
         "Miscellaneous",
diff --git a/tests/tests.py b/tests/tests.py
index d9c592f..d7bdf5b 100644
--- a/tests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/tests.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def root_mean_square_difference(image1, image2):
     "Calculate the root-mean-square difference between two images"
     diff = ImageChops.difference(image1, image2).convert("L")
     h = diff.histogram()
-    sq = (value * (idx ** 2) for idx, value in enumerate(h))
+    sq = (value * (idx**2) for idx, value in enumerate(h))
     sum_of_squares = sum(sq)
     rms = math.sqrt(sum_of_squares / float(image1.size[0] * image1.size[1]))
     return rms