diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_contentstore.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_contentstore.py
index 288e6443f7..17fccbb56a 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_contentstore.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_contentstore.py
@@ -792,7 +792,7 @@ class ContentStoreToyCourseTest(ModuleStoreTestCase):
             source_location.tag, source_location.org, source_location.course, 'html', 'nonportable'])
         html_module = module_store.get_instance(source_location.course_id, html_module_location)
 
-        self.assertTrue(isinstance(html_module.data, basestring))
+        self.assertIsInstance(html_module.data, basestring)
         new_data = html_module.data.replace('/static/', '/c4x/{0}/{1}/asset/'.format(
             source_location.org, source_location.course))
         module_store.update_item(html_module_location, new_data)
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/service_status/test.py b/common/djangoapps/service_status/test.py
index 1c4f10497e..4fe53aaa79 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/service_status/test.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/service_status/test.py
@@ -42,6 +42,6 @@ class CeleryConfigTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
         # We don't know the other dict values exactly,
         # but we can assert that they take the right form
-        self.assertTrue(isinstance(result_dict['task_id'], unicode))
-        self.assertTrue(isinstance(result_dict['time'], float))
+        self.assertIsInstance(result_dict['task_id'], unicode)
+        self.assertIsInstance(result_dict['time'], float)
         self.assertTrue(result_dict['time'] > 0.0)
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_combined_open_ended.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_combined_open_ended.py
index 65fc2bb608..0fda514128 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_combined_open_ended.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_combined_open_ended.py
@@ -769,10 +769,10 @@ class OpenEndedModuleXmlTest(unittest.TestCase, DummyModulestore):
         self.assertEqual(module.current_task_number, 0)
 
         html = module.get_html()
-        self.assertTrue(isinstance(html, basestring))
+        self.assertIsInstance(html, basestring)
 
         rubric = module.handle_ajax("get_combined_rubric", {})
-        self.assertTrue(isinstance(rubric, basestring))
+        self.assertIsInstance(rubric, basestring)
         self.assertEqual(module.state, "assessing")
         module.handle_ajax("reset", {})
         self.assertEqual(module.current_task_number, 0)
@@ -790,7 +790,7 @@ class OpenEndedModuleXmlTest(unittest.TestCase, DummyModulestore):
         #Simulate a student saving an answer
         module.handle_ajax("save_answer", {"student_answer": self.answer})
         status = module.handle_ajax("get_status", {})
-        self.assertTrue(isinstance(status, basestring))
+        self.assertIsInstance(status, basestring)
 
         #Mock a student submitting an assessment
         assessment_dict = MockQueryDict()
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_error_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_error_module.py
index 5a47091045..8a836b4a8a 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_error_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_error_module.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ class TestErrorModule(unittest.TestCase, SetupTestErrorModules):
     def test_error_module_xml_rendering(self):
         descriptor = error_module.ErrorDescriptor.from_xml(
             self.valid_xml, self.system, self.org, self.course, self.error_msg)
-        self.assertTrue(isinstance(descriptor, error_module.ErrorDescriptor))
+        self.assertIsInstance(descriptor, error_module.ErrorDescriptor)
         module = descriptor.xmodule(self.system)
         context_repr = module.get_html()
         self.assertIn(self.error_msg, context_repr)
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class TestErrorModule(unittest.TestCase, SetupTestErrorModules):
 
         error_descriptor = error_module.ErrorDescriptor.from_descriptor(
             descriptor, self.error_msg)
-        self.assertTrue(isinstance(error_descriptor, error_module.ErrorDescriptor))
+        self.assertIsInstance(error_descriptor, error_module.ErrorDescriptor)
         module = error_descriptor.xmodule(self.system)
         context_repr = module.get_html()
         self.assertIn(self.error_msg, context_repr)
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class TestNonStaffErrorModule(unittest.TestCase, SetupTestErrorModules):
     def test_non_staff_error_module_create(self):
         descriptor = error_module.NonStaffErrorDescriptor.from_xml(
             self.valid_xml, self.system, self.org, self.course)
-        self.assertTrue(isinstance(descriptor, error_module.NonStaffErrorDescriptor))
+        self.assertIsInstance(descriptor, error_module.NonStaffErrorDescriptor)
 
     def test_from_xml_render(self):
         descriptor = error_module.NonStaffErrorDescriptor.from_xml(
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ class TestNonStaffErrorModule(unittest.TestCase, SetupTestErrorModules):
 
         error_descriptor = error_module.NonStaffErrorDescriptor.from_descriptor(
             descriptor, self.error_msg)
-        self.assertTrue(isinstance(error_descriptor, error_module.ErrorDescriptor))
+        self.assertIsInstance(error_descriptor, error_module.ErrorDescriptor)
         module = error_descriptor.xmodule(self.system)
         context_repr = module.get_html()
         self.assertNotIn(self.error_msg, context_repr)