diff --git a/uuidfield/__init__.py b/uuidfield/__init__.py
index 5c0bd3b..532c328 100644
--- a/uuidfield/__init__.py
+++ b/uuidfield/__init__.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-from __future__ import absolute_import
+
 try:
     VERSION = __import__('pkg_resources') \
         .get_distribution('django-uuidfield').version
 except Exception as e:
     VERSION = 'unknown'
-    
-from .fields import UUIDField
\ No newline at end of file
+
+from .fields import UUIDField
diff --git a/uuidfield/fields.py b/uuidfield/fields.py
index e5c7ed0..89784dd 100644
--- a/uuidfield/fields.py
+++ b/uuidfield/fields.py
@@ -2,10 +2,7 @@
 
 from django import forms
 from django.db.models import Field
-try:
-    from django.utils.encoding import smart_unicode
-except ImportError:
-    from django.utils.encoding import smart_text as smart_unicode
+from django.utils.encoding import smart_str as smart_unicode
 
 try:
     # psycopg2 needs us to register the uuid type
diff --git a/uuidfield/tests/__init__.py b/uuidfield/tests/__init__.py
index 1d2c605..1d10cd5 100644
--- a/uuidfield/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/uuidfield/tests/__init__.py
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-from tests import *
-from models import *
\ No newline at end of file
+from .tests import *
+from .models import *
diff --git a/uuidfield/tests/tests.py b/uuidfield/tests/tests.py
index 2ed9b76..22625db 100644
--- a/uuidfield/tests/tests.py
+++ b/uuidfield/tests/tests.py
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ class UUIDFieldTestCase(TestCase):
     def test_auto_uuid4(self):
         obj = AutoUUIDField.objects.create()
         self.assertTrue(obj.uuid)
-        self.assertEquals(len(obj.uuid), 32)
+        self.assertEqual(len(obj.uuid), 32)
         self.assertTrue(isinstance(obj.uuid, uuid.UUID))
-        self.assertEquals(obj.uuid.version, 4)
+        self.assertEqual(obj.uuid.version, 4)
 
     def test_raises_exception(self):
         self.assertRaises(IntegrityError, ManualUUIDField.objects.create)
@@ -22,16 +22,16 @@ def test_raises_exception(self):
     def test_manual(self):
         obj = ManualUUIDField.objects.create(uuid=uuid.uuid4())
         self.assertTrue(obj)
-        self.assertEquals(len(obj.uuid), 32)
+        self.assertEqual(len(obj.uuid), 32)
         self.assertTrue(isinstance(obj.uuid, uuid.UUID))
-        self.assertEquals(obj.uuid.version, 4)
+        self.assertEqual(obj.uuid.version, 4)
 
     def test_namespace(self):
         obj = NamespaceUUIDField.objects.create()
         self.assertTrue(obj)
-        self.assertEquals(len(obj.uuid), 32)
+        self.assertEqual(len(obj.uuid), 32)
         self.assertTrue(isinstance(obj.uuid, uuid.UUID))
-        self.assertEquals(obj.uuid.version, 5)
+        self.assertEqual(obj.uuid.version, 5)
 
     def test_long_uuid(self):
         invalid_uuid = "1" * 33
@@ -58,10 +58,10 @@ def test_hyphenated(self):
         obj = HyphenatedUUIDField.objects.create(name='test')
         uuid = obj.uuid
 
-        self.assertTrue('-' in unicode(uuid))
+        self.assertTrue('-' in str(uuid))
         self.assertTrue('-' in str(uuid))
 
-        self.assertEquals(len(uuid), 36)
+        self.assertEqual(len(uuid), 36)
 
         # ensure the hyphens don't affect re-saving object
         obj.name = 'shoe'
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ def test_hyphenated(self):
     def test_can_use_hyphenated_uuids_in_filter_and_get(self):
         obj = AutoUUIDField.objects.create()
         obj_uuid = uuid.UUID(str(obj.uuid))
-        self.assertTrue('-' in unicode(obj_uuid))
+        self.assertTrue('-' in str(obj_uuid))
         self.assertTrue('-' in str(obj_uuid))
         inserted_obj = AutoUUIDField.objects.get(uuid=obj_uuid)
         filtered_obj = AutoUUIDField.objects.filter(uuid=obj_uuid)[0]