diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_export_git.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_export_git.py
index 27ae16da16..9b9c58b54b 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_export_git.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_export_git.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class TestExportGit(CourseTestCase):
         self.assertIn(
             ('giturl must be defined in your '
              'course settings before you can export to git.'),
-            response.content
+            response.content.decode('utf-8')
         )
 
         response = self.client.get('{}?action=push'.format(self.test_url))
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ class TestExportGit(CourseTestCase):
         self.assertIn(
             ('giturl must be defined in your '
              'course settings before you can export to git.'),
-            response.content
+            response.content.decode('utf-8')
         )
 
     def test_course_export_failures(self):
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class TestExportGit(CourseTestCase):
         modulestore().update_item(self.course_module, self.user.id)
 
         response = self.client.get('{}?action=push'.format(self.test_url))
-        self.assertIn('Export Failed:', response.content)
+        self.assertIn('Export Failed:', response.content.decode('utf-8'))
 
     def test_exception_translation(self):
         """
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ class TestExportGit(CourseTestCase):
         modulestore().update_item(self.course_module, self.user.id)
 
         response = self.client.get('{}?action=push'.format(self.test_url))
-        self.assertNotIn('django.utils.functional.__proxy__', response.content)
+        self.assertNotIn('django.utils.functional.__proxy__', response.content.decode('utf-8'))
 
     def test_course_export_success(self):
         """
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ class TestExportGit(CourseTestCase):
 
         self.make_bare_repo_with_course('test_repo')
         response = self.client.get('{}?action=push'.format(self.test_url))
-        self.assertIn('Export Succeeded', response.content)
+        self.assertIn('Export Succeeded', response.content.decode('utf-8'))
 
     def test_repo_with_dots(self):
         """
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ class TestExportGit(CourseTestCase):
         """
         self.make_bare_repo_with_course('test.repo')
         response = self.client.get('{}?action=push'.format(self.test_url))
-        self.assertIn('Export Succeeded', response.content)
+        self.assertIn('Export Succeeded', response.content.decode('utf-8'))
 
     def test_dirty_repo(self):
         """
diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_transcripts_utils.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_transcripts_utils.py
index bba9984e76..dc0bfe373d 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_transcripts_utils.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_transcripts_utils.py
@@ -873,7 +873,7 @@ class TestGetTranscript(SharedModuleStoreTestCase):
         Verify that `get_transcript` function returns correct data when transcript is in content store.
         """
         base_filename = 'video_101.srt'
-        self.upload_file(self.create_srt_file(self.subs_srt), self.video.location, base_filename)
+        self.upload_file(self.create_srt_file(self.subs_srt.encode('utf-8')), self.video.location, base_filename)
         self.create_transcript(subs_id, language, base_filename, youtube_id_1_0, html5_sources)
         content, file_name, mimetype = transcripts_utils.get_transcript(
             self.video,
@@ -935,7 +935,7 @@ class TestGetTranscript(SharedModuleStoreTestCase):
         """
         Verify that `get_transcript` function returns correct exception when transcript content is empty.
         """
-        self.upload_file(self.create_srt_file(''), self.video.location, 'ur_video_101.srt')
+        self.upload_file(self.create_srt_file(b''), self.video.location, 'ur_video_101.srt')
         self.create_transcript('', 'ur', 'ur_video_101.srt')
 
         with self.assertRaises(NotFoundError) as no_content_exception:
diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/maintenance/tests.py b/cms/djangoapps/maintenance/tests.py
index 2b529792fc..9887caa733 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/maintenance/tests.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/maintenance/tests.py
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ class TestAnnouncementsViews(MaintenanceViewTestCase):
         """
         url = reverse("maintenance:announcement_index")
         response = self.client.get(url)
-        self.assertIn('<div class="announcement-container">', response.content)
+        self.assertIn('<div class="announcement-container">', response.content.decode('utf-8'))
 
     def test_create(self):
         """
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ class TestAnnouncementsViews(MaintenanceViewTestCase):
         announcement.save()
         url = reverse("maintenance:announcement_edit", kwargs={"pk": announcement.pk})
         response = self.client.get(url)
-        self.assertIn('<div class="wrapper-form announcement-container">', response.content)
+        self.assertIn('<div class="wrapper-form announcement-container">', response.content.decode('utf-8'))
         self.client.post(url, {"content": "Test Edit Announcement", "active": True})
         announcement = Announcement.objects.get(pk=announcement.pk)
         self.assertEquals(announcement.content, "Test Edit Announcement")
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/contentstore/mongo.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/contentstore/mongo.py
index 7ab6c42d2d..649e07bc7a 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/contentstore/mongo.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/contentstore/mongo.py
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ class MongoContentStore(ContentStore):
                               import_path=content.import_path,
                               # getattr b/c caching may mean some pickled instances don't have attr
                               locked=getattr(content, 'locked', False)) as fp:
+
             # It seems that this code thought that only some specific object would have the `__iter__` attribute
             # but the bytes object in python 3 has one and should not use the chunking logic.
             if hasattr(content.data, '__iter__') and not isinstance(content.data, six.binary_type):
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/video_module/transcripts_utils.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/video_module/transcripts_utils.py
index 5a513bca58..5556a7448b 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/video_module/transcripts_utils.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/video_module/transcripts_utils.py
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ def save_subs_to_store(subs, subs_id, item, language='en'):
 
     Returns: location of saved subtitles.
     """
-    filedata = json.dumps(subs, indent=2)
+    filedata = json.dumps(subs, indent=2).encode('utf-8')
     filename = subs_filename(subs_id, language)
     return save_to_store(filedata, filename, 'application/json', item.location)