diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/instructor/views/api.py b/lms/djangoapps/instructor/views/api.py
index 69e4fea0ad..c2f8827928 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/instructor/views/api.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/instructor/views/api.py
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ def generate_random_string(length):
         if char not in 'aAeEiIoOuU1l'
     ]
 
-    return string.join((random.choice(chars) for __ in range(length)), '')
+    return ''.join((random.choice(chars) for i in range(length)))
 
 
 def generate_unique_password(generated_passwords, password_length=12):
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/instructor_task/models.py b/lms/djangoapps/instructor_task/models.py
index 72daed9b4f..3c055cdc9d 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/instructor_task/models.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/instructor_task/models.py
@@ -321,5 +321,5 @@ class DjangoStorageReportStore(ReportStore):
         """
         Return the full path to a given file for a given course.
         """
-        hashed_course_id = hashlib.sha1(text_type(course_id)).hexdigest()
+        hashed_course_id = hashlib.sha1(text_type(course_id).encode('utf-8')).hexdigest()
         return os.path.join(hashed_course_id, filename)
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/instructor_task/tests/test_tasks_helper.py b/lms/djangoapps/instructor_task/tests/test_tasks_helper.py
index 8a29c442d8..91fa03b734 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/instructor_task/tests/test_tasks_helper.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/instructor_task/tests/test_tasks_helper.py
@@ -1367,7 +1367,7 @@ class TestExecutiveSummaryReport(TestReportMixin, InstructorTaskCourseTestCase):
         report_html_filename = report_store.links_for(self.course.id)[0][0]
         report_path = report_store.path_to(self.course.id, report_html_filename)
         with report_store.storage.open(report_path) as html_file:
-            html_file_data = html_file.read()
+            html_file_data = html_file.read().decode('utf-8')
             for data in expected_data:
                 self.assertIn(data, html_file_data)