diff --git a/tests/storage/__init__.py b/tests/storage/__init__.py
index b19ba85..52c6fa2 100644
--- a/tests/storage/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/storage/__init__.py
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ class StorageTests(object):
         hrefs.sort()
         assert hrefs == sorted(s.list())
         for href, etag in hrefs:
-            assert isinstance(href, (str, unicode))
-            assert isinstance(etag, (str, unicode))
+            assert isinstance(href, (text_type, bytes))
+            assert isinstance(etag, (text_type, bytes))
             assert s.has(href)
             item, etag2 = s.get(href)
             assert etag == etag2
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index b7f6c9c..124e3dc 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def test_parse_options():
         # Yes, we want a very strong typecheck here, because we actually have
         # to differentiate between bool and int, and in Python 2, bool is a
         # subclass of int.
-        assert type(a[key]) is type(expected[key])
+        assert type(a[key]) is type(expected[key])  # flake8: noqa
 
 
 def test_get_password_from_netrc(monkeypatch):
diff --git a/vdirsyncer/utils.py b/vdirsyncer/utils.py
index 856525e..19792a2 100644
--- a/vdirsyncer/utils.py
+++ b/vdirsyncer/utils.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ PY2 = sys.version_info[0] == 2
 
 if PY2:
     import urlparse
-    text_type = unicode
+    text_type = unicode  # flake8: noqa
     iteritems = lambda x: x.iteritems()
     itervalues = lambda x: x.itervalues()
 else: