diff --git a/lms/templates/support/index.html b/lms/templates/support/index.html
index dc263ea624..1bd5a05451 100644
--- a/lms/templates/support/index.html
+++ b/lms/templates/support/index.html
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ## mako
 <%page expression_filter="h"/>
 <%!
+import six
 from django.urls import reverse
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
 %>
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ ${_("Student Support")}
   <h1>${_("Student Support")}</h1>
   <ul>
     % for url in urls:
-    <li><a href="${url["url"]}">${unicode(url["name"])}</a>: ${unicode(url["description"])}</li>
+    <li><a href="${url["url"]}">${six.text_type(url["name"])}</a>: ${six.text_type(url["description"])}</li>
     % endfor
   </ul>
 </section>
diff --git a/openedx/core/djangoapps/safe_sessions/middleware.py b/openedx/core/djangoapps/safe_sessions/middleware.py
index 5443bae960..d08aa2f8b8 100644
--- a/openedx/core/djangoapps/safe_sessions/middleware.py
+++ b/openedx/core/djangoapps/safe_sessions/middleware.py
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ class SafeCookieData(object):
                     ))
             return safe_cookie_data
 
-    def __unicode__(self):
+    def __str__(self):
         """
         Returns a string serialization of the safe cookie data.
         """
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ class SafeCookieData(object):
         hash_func = sha256()
         for data_item in [self.version, self.session_id, user_id]:
             hash_func.update(six.b(six.text_type(data_item)))
-            hash_func.update(b'|')
+            hash_func.update(six.b('|'))
         return hash_func.hexdigest()
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -317,7 +317,6 @@ class SafeSessionMiddleware(SessionMiddleware):
         Step 4. Delete the cookie, if it's marked for deletion.
 
         """
-
         response = super(SafeSessionMiddleware, self).process_response(request, response)  # Step 1
 
         if not _is_cookie_marked_for_deletion(request) and _is_cookie_present(response):