diff --git a/compiler/cpp/src/generate/t_py_generator.cc b/compiler/cpp/src/generate/t_py_generator.cc
index 928bc46..ebaa9c3 100644
--- a/compiler/cpp/src/generate/t_py_generator.cc
+++ b/compiler/cpp/src/generate/t_py_generator.cc
@@ -435,7 +435,9 @@
  * Prints standard thrift imports
  */
 string t_py_generator::py_imports() {
-  return string("from thrift.Thrift import TType, TMessageType, TFrozenDict, TException, TApplicationException");
+  return gen_utf8strings_
+    ? string("from thrift.Thrift import TType, TMessageType, TFrozenDict, TException, TApplicationException\nimport sys")
+    : string("from thrift.Thrift import TType, TMessageType, TFrozenDict, TException, TApplicationException");
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1518,7 +1520,7 @@
     py_autogen_comment() << endl <<
     "import sys" << endl <<
     "import pprint" << endl <<
-    "if sys.version_info[0] == 3:" << endl <<
+    "if sys.version_info[0] > 2:" << endl <<
     "  from urllib.parse import urlparse" << endl <<
     "else:" << endl <<
     "  from urlparse import urlparse" << endl <<
@@ -2038,7 +2040,7 @@
         } else if(!gen_utf8strings_) {
           out << "readString()";
         } else {
-          out << "readString().decode('utf-8')";
+          out << "readString().decode('utf-8') if sys.version_info[0] == 2 else iprot.readString()";
         }
         break;
       case t_base_type::TYPE_BOOL:
@@ -2226,7 +2228,7 @@
         } else if (!gen_utf8strings_) {
           out << "writeString(" << name << ")";
         } else {
-          out << "writeString(" << name << ".encode('utf-8'))";
+          out << "writeString(" << name << ".encode('utf-8') if sys.version_info[0] == 2 else " << name << ")";
         }
         break;
       case t_base_type::TYPE_BOOL: