diff --git a/test/basetest/utils.py b/test/basetest/utils.py
index 7604af12e..d41ac09cc 100644
--- a/test/basetest/utils.py
+++ b/test/basetest/utils.py
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ import atexit
 import tempfile
 from subprocess import Popen, PIPE, STDOUT
 from threading import Thread
-from Queue import Queue, Empty
+try:
+    from Queue import Queue, Empty
+except ImportError:
+    from queue import Queue, Empty
 from time import sleep
 try:
     import simplejson as json
@@ -144,6 +147,9 @@ def _queue_output(arguments, pidq, outputq):
     # Send input and wait for finish
     out, err = proc.communicate(input)
 
+    if sys.version_info > (3,):
+        out, err = out.decode('utf-8'), err.decode('utf-8')
+
     # Give the output back to the caller
     outputq.put((out, err, proc.returncode))
 
@@ -470,7 +476,7 @@ def mkstemp_exec(data):
     """Create a temporary executable file that is removed at process exit
     """
     name = mkstemp(data)
-    os.chmod(name, 0755)
+    os.chmod(name, 0o755)
 
     return name