diff --git a/lib/py/src/compat.py b/lib/py/src/compat.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b2f47dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/py/src/compat.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import sys
+
+if sys.version_info[0] == 2:
+
+  from cStringIO import StringIO as BufferIO
+
+  def binary_to_str(bin_val):
+    return bin_val
+
+  def str_to_binary(str_val):
+    return str_val
+
+else:
+
+  from io import BytesIO as BufferIO
+
+  def binary_to_str(bin_val):
+    try:
+      return bin_val.decode('utf8')
+    except:
+      return bin_val
+
+  def str_to_binary(str_val):
+    try:
+      return bytearray(str_val, 'utf8')
+    except:
+      return str_val