diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/error_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/error_module.py
index 40b008b5e2..1391dc4ac2 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/error_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/error_module.py
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ class ErrorDescriptor(ErrorFields, XModuleDescriptor):
 
         # real metadata stays in the content, but add a display name
         field_data = DictFieldData({
-            'error_msg': str(error_msg),
+            'error_msg': unicode(error_msg),
             'contents': contents,
             'location': location,
             'category': 'error'
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/split_mongo/mongo_connection.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/split_mongo/mongo_connection.py
index f30b82a3d3..9109d31be5 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/split_mongo/mongo_connection.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/split_mongo/mongo_connection.py
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ class MongoConnection(object):
         """
         Get the course_index from the persistence mechanism whose id is the given key
         """
-        case_regex = r"(?i)^{}$" if ignore_case else r"{}"
+        case_regex = ur"(?i)^{}$" if ignore_case else ur"{}"
         return self.course_index.find_one(
             son.SON([
                 (key_attr, re.compile(case_regex.format(getattr(key, key_attr))))
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_import.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_import.py
index 0291672f39..159925e72b 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_import.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_import.py
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ class ImportTestCase(BaseCourseTestCase):
         print("course errors:")
 
         # Expect to find an error/exception about characters in "®esources"
-        expect = "UnicodeEncodeError"
+        expect = "InvalidKeyError"
         errors = [
             (msg.encode("utf-8"), err.encode("utf-8"))
             for msg, err
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/x_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/x_module.py
index 6341b443e5..3ce77b7b2f 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/x_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/x_module.py
@@ -605,7 +605,7 @@ def policy_key(location):
     Get the key for a location in a policy file.  (Since the policy file is
     specific to a course, it doesn't need the full location url).
     """
-    return '{cat}/{name}'.format(cat=location.category, name=location.name)
+    return u'{cat}/{name}'.format(cat=location.category, name=location.name)
 
 
 Template = namedtuple("Template", "metadata data children")