diff --git a/avatar/forms.py b/avatar/forms.py
index d9359ef..3806d40 100644
--- a/avatar/forms.py
+++ b/avatar/forms.py
@@ -15,12 +15,12 @@ def avatar_img(avatar, size):
     if not avatar.thumbnail_exists(size):
         avatar.create_thumbnail(size)
     return mark_safe('<img src="%s" alt="%s" width="%s" height="%s" />' %
-                     (avatar.avatar_url(size), unicode(avatar), size, size))
+                     (avatar.avatar_url(size), avatar, size, size))
 
 
 class UploadAvatarForm(forms.Form):
 
-    avatar = forms.ImageField(label=_(u"avatar"))
+    avatar = forms.ImageField(label=_("avatar"))
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self.user = kwargs.pop('user')
diff --git a/avatar/management/commands/rebuild_avatars.py b/avatar/management/commands/rebuild_avatars.py
index 3a17970..0b00835 100644
--- a/avatar/management/commands/rebuild_avatars.py
+++ b/avatar/management/commands/rebuild_avatars.py
@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ from avatar.settings import AUTO_GENERATE_AVATAR_SIZES
 
 
 class Command(NoArgsCommand):
-    help = "Regenerates avatar thumbnails for the sizes specified in " + \
-        "settings.AUTO_GENERATE_AVATAR_SIZES."
+    help = ("Regenerates avatar thumbnails for the sizes specified in "
+            "settings.AUTO_GENERATE_AVATAR_SIZES.")
 
     def handle_noargs(self, **options):
         for avatar in Avatar.objects.all():
             for size in AUTO_GENERATE_AVATAR_SIZES:
-                print "Rebuilding Avatar id=%s at size %s." % (avatar.id, size)
+                print("Rebuilding Avatar id=%s at size %s." % (avatar.id, size))
                 avatar.create_thumbnail(size)
diff --git a/avatar/models.py b/avatar/models.py
index 17decd4..6be09b1 100644
--- a/avatar/models.py
+++ b/avatar/models.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ from django.core.files.base import ContentFile
 from django.core.files.storage import get_storage_class
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
 from django.utils.encoding import smart_str
+from django.utils import six
 from django.db.models import signals
 
 from avatar.util import get_username
@@ -86,7 +87,7 @@ class Avatar(models.Model):
     date_uploaded = models.DateTimeField(default=now)
 
     def __unicode__(self):
-        return _(u'Avatar for %s') % self.user
+        return _(six.u('Avatar for %s')) % self.user
 
     def save(self, *args, **kwargs):
         avatars = Avatar.objects.filter(user=self.user)
diff --git a/avatar/templatetags/avatar_tags.py b/avatar/templatetags/avatar_tags.py
index 6ad7584..2e4c79d 100644
--- a/avatar/templatetags/avatar_tags.py
+++ b/avatar/templatetags/avatar_tags.py
@@ -3,9 +3,10 @@ import urlparse
 import hashlib
 
 from django import template
-from django.template.loader import render_to_string
-from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
+from django.template.loader import render_to_string
+from django.utils import six
+from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
 
 from avatar.settings import (AVATAR_GRAVATAR_BACKUP, AVATAR_GRAVATAR_DEFAULT,
                              AVATAR_DEFAULT_SIZE, AVATAR_GRAVATAR_BASE_URL)
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ def primary_avatar(user, size=AVATAR_DEFAULT_SIZE):
     work for us. If that special view is then cached by a CDN for instance,
     we will avoid many db calls.
     """
-    alt = unicode(user)
+    alt = six.text_type(user)
     url = reverse('avatar_render_primary', kwargs={'user': user, 'size': size})
     return """<img src="%s" alt="%s" width="%s" height="%s" />""" % (url, alt,
         size, size)
@@ -109,6 +110,6 @@ class UsersAvatarObjectNode(template.Node):
             context[key] = avatar[0]
         else:
             context[key] = None
-        return u""
+        return six.text_type()
 
 register.tag('primary_avatar_object', primary_avatar_object)
diff --git a/avatar/util.py b/avatar/util.py
index 73f55a5..eee8e8a 100644
--- a/avatar/util.py
+++ b/avatar/util.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import hashlib
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.cache import cache
 from django.utils.encoding import smart_str
+from django.utils import six
 from django.template.defaultfilters import slugify
 
 try:
@@ -45,9 +46,9 @@ def get_cache_key(user_or_username, size, prefix):
     """
     if isinstance(user_or_username, get_user_model()):
         user_or_username = get_username(user_or_username)
-    key = u'%s_%s_%s' % (prefix, user_or_username, size)
-    return u'%s_%s' % (slugify(key)[:100],
-                       hashlib.md5(smart_str(key)).hexdigest())
+    key = six.u('%s_%s_%s') % (prefix, user_or_username, size)
+    return six.u('%s_%s') % (slugify(key)[:100],
+                             hashlib.md5(smart_str(key)).hexdigest())
 
 
 def cache_result(func):
diff --git a/avatar/views.py b/avatar/views.py
index a7826c9..fbd096f 100644
--- a/avatar/views.py
+++ b/avatar/views.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from django.core.files.base import ContentFile
 from django.http import HttpResponse, Http404
 from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404, render, redirect
+from django.utils import six
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
 from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt
 
@@ -144,10 +145,10 @@ def delete(request, extra_context=None, next_override=None, *args, **kwargs):
     if request.method == 'POST':
         if delete_avatar_form.is_valid():
             ids = delete_avatar_form.cleaned_data['choices']
-            if unicode(avatar.id) in ids and avatars.count() > len(ids):
+            if six.text_type(avatar.id) in ids and avatars.count() > len(ids):
                 # Find the next best avatar, and set it as the new primary
                 for a in avatars:
-                    if unicode(a.id) not in ids:
+                    if six.text_type(a.id) not in ids:
                         a.primary = True
                         a.save()
                         avatar_updated.send(sender=Avatar, user=request.user, avatar=avatar)