diff --git a/src/euphorie/htmllaundry/tests/__init__.py b/src/euphorie/htmllaundry/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/src/euphorie/htmllaundry/tests/test_htmllaundry.py b/src/euphorie/htmllaundry/tests/test_htmllaundry.py
index 9b05496d9..c45cacd4c 100644
--- a/src/euphorie/htmllaundry/tests/test_htmllaundry.py
+++ b/src/euphorie/htmllaundry/tests/test_htmllaundry.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ def _remove(self, str, extra_tags=[]):
 
         fragment = lxml.etree.fromstring(str)
         fragment = remove_empty_tags(fragment, extra_tags)
-        return lxml.etree.tostring(fragment, encoding=str)
+        return lxml.etree.tostring(fragment, encoding="utf8").decode()
 
     def testRemoveEmptyParagraphElement(self):
         self.assertEqual(self._remove("<div><p/></div>"), "<div/>")
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ def force_link_target(self, str, target="_blank"):
         fragment = lxml.etree.fromstring(str)
         cleaner = LaundryCleaner()
         cleaner.force_link_target(fragment, target)
-        return lxml.etree.tostring(fragment, encoding=str)
+        return lxml.etree.tostring(fragment, encoding="utf8").decode()
 
     def testNoAnchor(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.force_link_target("<div><p/></div>"), "<div><p/></div>")
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ def _strip(self, str):
 
         fragment = lxml.etree.fromstring(str)
         strip_outer_breaks(fragment)
-        return lxml.etree.tostring(fragment, encoding=str)
+        return lxml.etree.tostring(fragment, encoding="utf8").decode()
 
     def testNoBreak(self):
         self.assertEqual(