diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/__init__.py b/linkcheck/checker/__init__.py
index 5c0f4cc0..b3c2164e 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/__init__.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/__init__.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import os
 import html
 import urllib.parse
 
-from .. import strformat, url as urlutil, log, LOG_CHECK
+from .. import url as urlutil, log, LOG_CHECK
 
 MAX_FILESIZE = 1024 * 1024 * 10  # 10MB
 
@@ -103,16 +103,10 @@ def get_url_from(
     @type extern: tuple(int, int) or None
     """
     if base_url is not None:
-        base_url = strformat.unicode_safe(base_url)
         # left strip for detection of URL scheme
         base_url_stripped = base_url.lstrip()
     else:
         base_url_stripped = base_url
-    if parent_url is not None:
-        parent_url = strformat.unicode_safe(parent_url)
-    if base_ref is not None:
-        base_ref = strformat.unicode_safe(base_ref)
-    name = strformat.unicode_safe(name)
     url = absolute_url(base_url_stripped, base_ref, parent_url).lower()
     if ":" in url:
         scheme = url.split(":", 1)[0].lower()
diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/httpurl.py b/linkcheck/checker/httpurl.py
index bb67b4d4..c8b6d149 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/httpurl.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/httpurl.py
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 """
 Handle http links.
 """
+
+import urllib.parse
+
 import requests
 
 # The validity of SSL certs is ignored to be able
@@ -34,7 +37,6 @@ import re
 from .. import (
     log,
     LOG_CHECK,
-    strformat,
     mimeutil,
     url as urlutil,
     LinkCheckerError,
@@ -50,9 +52,6 @@ from requests.sessions import REDIRECT_STATI
 HEADER_ENCODING = "iso-8859-1"
 HTTP_SCHEMAS = ('http://', 'https://')
 
-# helper alias
-unicode_safe = strformat.unicode_safe
-
 # match for robots meta element content attribute
 nofollow_re = re.compile(r"\bnofollow\b", re.IGNORECASE)
 
@@ -273,7 +272,7 @@ class HttpUrl(internpaturl.InternPatternUrl, proxysupport.ProxySupport):
             # Reset extern and recalculate
             self.extern = None
             self.set_extern(newurl)
-            self.urlparts = strformat.url_unicode_split(newurl)
+            self.urlparts = urllib.parse.urlsplit(newurl)
             self.build_url_parts()
             self.url_connection = response
             self.headers = response.headers
@@ -286,15 +285,15 @@ class HttpUrl(internpaturl.InternPatternUrl, proxysupport.ProxySupport):
                 self.aggregate.plugin_manager.run_connection_plugins(self)
 
     def getheader(self, name, default=None):
-        """Get decoded header value.
+        """Get header value.
 
-        @return: decoded header value or default of not found
-        @rtype: unicode or type of default
+        @return: header value or default of not found
+        @rtype: str
         """
         value = self.headers.get(name)
         if value is None:
             return default
-        return unicode_safe(value, encoding=HEADER_ENCODING)
+        return value
 
     def check_response(self):
         """Check final result and log it."""
@@ -353,7 +352,7 @@ class HttpUrl(internpaturl.InternPatternUrl, proxysupport.ProxySupport):
             value = self.headers['Refresh'].strip()
             mo = refresh_re.match(value)
             if mo:
-                url = unicode_safe(mo.group("url"))
+                url = mo.group("url")
                 name = "Refresh: header"
                 self.add_url(url, name=name)
         if 'Content-Location' in self.headers:
diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/internpaturl.py b/linkcheck/checker/internpaturl.py
index ceeeced0..5e54392d 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/internpaturl.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/internpaturl.py
@@ -16,15 +16,18 @@
 """
 Intern URL pattern support.
 """
+
 import re
+import urllib.parse
+
 from . import urlbase, absolute_url
-from .. import strformat, url as urlutil
+from .. import url as urlutil
 
 
 def get_intern_pattern(url):
     """Return intern pattern for given URL. Redirections to the same
     domain with or without "www." prepended are allowed."""
-    parts = strformat.url_unicode_split(url)
+    parts = urllib.parse.urlsplit(url)
     scheme = parts[0].lower()
     domain = parts[1].lower()
     domain, is_idn = urlutil.idna_encode(domain)
diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py b/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
index 8a77994b..c1a1f6b8 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
@@ -53,9 +53,6 @@ from .const import (
 )
 from ..url import url_fix_wayback_query
 
-# helper alias
-unicode_safe = strformat.unicode_safe
-
 # schemes that are invalid with an empty hostname
 scheme_requires_host = ("ftp", "http", "telnet")
 
@@ -389,7 +386,7 @@ class UrlBase:
             self.build_url()
             self.check_url_warnings()
         except tuple(ExcSyntaxList) as msg:
-            self.set_result(unicode_safe(msg), valid=False)
+            self.set_result(msg, valid=False)
         else:
             self.set_cache_url()
 
@@ -440,7 +437,7 @@ class UrlBase:
                 urlparts[2] = url_fix_wayback_query(urlparts[2])
         self.url = urlutil.urlunsplit(urlparts)
         # split into (modifiable) list
-        self.urlparts = strformat.url_unicode_split(self.url)
+        self.urlparts = urllib.parse.urlsplit(self.url)
         self.build_url_parts()
         # and unsplit again
         self.url = urlutil.urlunsplit(self.urlparts)
@@ -529,7 +526,7 @@ class UrlBase:
                     'host': self.host,
                     'msg': value,
                 }
-            self.set_result(unicode_safe(value), valid=False)
+            self.set_result(value, valid=False)
 
     def check_content(self):
         """Check content of URL.
@@ -776,7 +773,7 @@ class UrlBase:
         """
         Return serialized url check data as unicode string.
         """
-        return unicode_safe(sep).join(
+        return sep.join(
             [
                 "%s link" % self.scheme,
                 "base_url=%r" % self.base_url,
diff --git a/linkcheck/logger/csvlog.py b/linkcheck/logger/csvlog.py
index 76cfc493..943b3aa5 100644
--- a/linkcheck/logger/csvlog.py
+++ b/linkcheck/logger/csvlog.py
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ from io import StringIO
 import os
 
 from . import _Logger
-from .. import strformat
 
 Columns = (
     "urlname",
@@ -134,7 +133,7 @@ class CSVLogger(_Logger):
             row.append(url_data.level)
         if self.has_part("modified"):
             row.append(self.format_modified(url_data.modified))
-        self.writerow(map(strformat.unicode_safe, row))
+        self.writerow(row)
         self.flush()
 
     def writerow(self, row):
diff --git a/linkcheck/plugins/locationinfo.py b/linkcheck/plugins/locationinfo.py
index b7045720..502ae090 100644
--- a/linkcheck/plugins/locationinfo.py
+++ b/linkcheck/plugins/locationinfo.py
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import sys
 import socket
 from ..lock import get_lock
 from ..decorators import synchronized
-from ..strformat import unicode_safe
 from .. import log, LOG_PLUGIN
 
 
@@ -112,9 +111,9 @@ def get_location(host):
         return None
     value = ""
     if record and record.get("city"):
-        value += unicode_safe(record["city"])
+        value += record["city"]
     if record and record.get("country_name"):
         if value:
             value += ", "
-        value += unicode_safe(record["country_name"])
+        value += record["country_name"]
     return value
diff --git a/linkcheck/plugins/parsepdf.py b/linkcheck/plugins/parsepdf.py
index bdff0f87..8659fdfd 100755
--- a/linkcheck/plugins/parsepdf.py
+++ b/linkcheck/plugins/parsepdf.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ except ImportError:
     has_pdflib = False
 else:
     has_pdflib = True
-from .. import log, LOG_PLUGIN, strformat
+from .. import log, LOG_PLUGIN
 
 
 def search_url(obj, url_data, pageno, seen_objs):
@@ -44,14 +44,7 @@ def search_url(obj, url_data, pageno, seen_objs):
     if isinstance(obj, dict):
         for key, value in obj.items():
             if key == 'URI':
-                if isinstance(value, str):
-                    url = value
-                else:
-                    # URIs should be 7bit ASCII encoded, but be safe and encode
-                    # to unicode
-                    # XXX this does not use an optional specified base URL
-                    url = strformat.unicode_safe(value)
-                url_data.add_url(url, page=pageno)
+                url_data.add_url(value, page=pageno)
             else:
                 search_url(value, url_data, pageno, seen_objs)
     elif isinstance(obj, list):
diff --git a/linkcheck/strformat.py b/linkcheck/strformat.py
index 923cba7d..62338042 100644
--- a/linkcheck/strformat.py
+++ b/linkcheck/strformat.py
@@ -26,10 +26,8 @@ import re
 import textwrap
 import os
 import time
-import urllib.parse
 import locale
 import pydoc
-from . import i18n
 
 # some handy time constants
 SECONDS_PER_MINUTE = 60
@@ -37,25 +35,6 @@ SECONDS_PER_HOUR = 60 * SECONDS_PER_MINUTE
 SECONDS_PER_DAY = 24 * SECONDS_PER_HOUR
 
 
-def unicode_safe(s, encoding=i18n.default_encoding, errors='replace'):
-    """Get unicode string without raising encoding errors. Unknown
-    characters of the given encoding will be ignored.
-
-    @param s: the string to be decoded
-    @type s: any object except None
-    @return: if s is already unicode, return s unchanged; else return
-        decoded unicode string of str(s)
-    @rtype: unicode
-    """
-    assert s is not None, "argument to unicode_safe was None"
-    if isinstance(s, str):
-        # s is already unicode, nothing to do
-        return s
-    elif isinstance(s, bytes):
-        return s.decode(encoding, errors)
-    return str(s)
-
-
 def ascii_safe(s):
     """Get ASCII string without raising encoding errors. Unknown
     characters of the given encoding will be ignored.
@@ -70,11 +49,6 @@ def ascii_safe(s):
     return s
 
 
-def url_unicode_split(url):
-    """Like urllib.parse.urlsplit(), but always returning unicode parts."""
-    return [unicode_safe(s) for s in urllib.parse.urlsplit(url)]
-
-
 def unquote(s, matching=False):
     """Remove leading and ending single and double quotes.
     The quotes need to match if matching is True. Only one quote from each
diff --git a/tests/test_strformat.py b/tests/test_strformat.py
index d1c7d1a5..bfbc08e0 100644
--- a/tests/test_strformat.py
+++ b/tests/test_strformat.py
@@ -126,10 +126,6 @@ class TestStrFormat(unittest.TestCase):
             duration(60 * 60 * 24 * 365 + 60 * 60 * 24 + 2), "1 year, 1 day"
         )
 
-    def test_unicode_safe(self):
-        unicode_safe = linkcheck.strformat.unicode_safe
-        self.assertEqual(unicode_safe("a"), "a")
-
     def test_ascii_safe(self):
         ascii_safe = linkcheck.strformat.ascii_safe
         self.assertEqual(ascii_safe("a"), "a")