diff --git a/nbt/nbt.py b/nbt/nbt.py
index dec9ba0..d4a1290 100644
--- a/nbt/nbt.py
+++ b/nbt/nbt.py
@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@
 
 try:
 	unicode
+	basestring
 except NameError:
 	unicode = str  # compatibility for Python 3
+	basestring = str  # compatibility for Python 3
 
 
 TAG_END = 0
diff --git a/tests/tests.py b/tests/tests.py
index d937e32..f22aab3 100755
--- a/tests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/tests.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def testEmptyFiles(self):
 		Opening an empty file causes an uncaught exception.
 		https://github.com/twoolie/NBT/issues/issue/4
 		"""
-		temp = BytesIO("")
+		temp = BytesIO(b"")
 		temp.seek(0)
 		self.assertRaises(MalformedFileError, NBTFile, buffer=temp)
 
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ def tearDown(self):
 class EmptyStringTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
 	def setUp(self):
-		self.golden_value = "\x0A\0\x04Test\x08\0\x0Cempty string\0\0\0"
+		self.golden_value = b"\x0A\0\x04Test\x08\0\x0Cempty string\0\0\0"
 		self.nbtfile = NBTFile(buffer=BytesIO(self.golden_value))
 
 	def testReadEmptyString(self):