diff --git a/lib/py/src/protocol/TBase.py b/lib/py/src/protocol/TBase.py
index 6cbd5f3..118a679 100644
--- a/lib/py/src/protocol/TBase.py
+++ b/lib/py/src/protocol/TBase.py
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 # under the License.
 #
 
-from thrift.Thrift import *
 from thrift.protocol import TBinaryProtocol
 from thrift.transport import TTransport
 
@@ -31,8 +30,7 @@
   __slots__ = []
 
   def __repr__(self):
-    L = ['%s=%r' % (key, getattr(self, key))
-              for key in self.__slots__]
+    L = ['%s=%r' % (key, getattr(self, key)) for key in self.__slots__]
     return '%s(%s)' % (self.__class__.__name__, ', '.join(L))
 
   def __eq__(self, other):
@@ -50,9 +48,9 @@
 
   def read(self, iprot):
     if (iprot.__class__ == TBinaryProtocol.TBinaryProtocolAccelerated and
-        isinstance(iprot.trans, TTransport.CReadableTransport) and
-        self.thrift_spec is not None and
-        fastbinary is not None):
+       isinstance(iprot.trans, TTransport.CReadableTransport) and
+       self.thrift_spec is not None and
+       fastbinary is not None):
       fastbinary.decode_binary(self,
                                iprot.trans,
                                (self.__class__, self.thrift_spec))
@@ -61,21 +59,13 @@
 
   def write(self, oprot):
     if (oprot.__class__ == TBinaryProtocol.TBinaryProtocolAccelerated and
-        self.thrift_spec is not None and
-        fastbinary is not None):
+       self.thrift_spec is not None and
+       fastbinary is not None):
       oprot.trans.write(
         fastbinary.encode_binary(self, (self.__class__, self.thrift_spec)))
       return
     oprot.writeStruct(self, self.thrift_spec)
 
 
-class TExceptionBase(Exception):
-  # old style class so python2.4 can raise exceptions derived from this
-  #  This can't inherit from TBase because of that limitation.
+class TExceptionBase(TBase, Exception):
   __slots__ = []
-
-  __repr__ = TBase.__repr__.im_func
-  __eq__ = TBase.__eq__.im_func
-  __ne__ = TBase.__ne__.im_func
-  read = TBase.read.im_func
-  write = TBase.write.im_func
diff --git a/lib/py/src/protocol/TBinaryProtocol.py b/lib/py/src/protocol/TBinaryProtocol.py
index 6fdd08c..f92f558 100644
--- a/lib/py/src/protocol/TBinaryProtocol.py
+++ b/lib/py/src/protocol/TBinaryProtocol.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 # under the License.
 #
 
-from TProtocol import *
+from .TProtocol import TType, TProtocolBase, TProtocolException
 from struct import pack, unpack
 
 
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@
     buff = pack("!d", dub)
     self.trans.write(buff)
 
-  def writeString(self, str):
+  def writeBinary(self, str):
     self.writeI32(len(str))
     self.trans.write(str)
 
@@ -217,10 +217,10 @@
     val, = unpack('!d', buff)
     return val
 
-  def readString(self):
+  def readBinary(self):
     len = self.readI32()
-    str = self.trans.readAll(len)
-    return str
+    s = self.trans.readAll(len)
+    return s
 
 
 class TBinaryProtocolFactory:
diff --git a/lib/py/src/protocol/TCompactProtocol.py b/lib/py/src/protocol/TCompactProtocol.py
index 7054ab0..b8d171e 100644
--- a/lib/py/src/protocol/TCompactProtocol.py
+++ b/lib/py/src/protocol/TCompactProtocol.py
@@ -17,9 +17,11 @@
 # under the License.
 #
 
-from TProtocol import *
+from .TProtocol import TType, TProtocolBase, TProtocolException, checkIntegerLimits
 from struct import pack, unpack
 
+from ..compat import binary_to_str, str_to_binary
+
 __all__ = ['TCompactProtocol', 'TCompactProtocolFactory']
 
 CLEAR = 0
@@ -62,7 +64,7 @@
     else:
       out.append((n & 0xff) | 0x80)
       n = n >> 7
-  trans.write(''.join(map(chr, out)))
+  trans.write(bytearray(out))
 
 
 def readVarint(trans):
@@ -141,7 +143,7 @@
     self.__writeUByte(self.PROTOCOL_ID)
     self.__writeUByte(self.VERSION | (type << self.TYPE_SHIFT_AMOUNT))
     self.__writeVarint(seqid)
-    self.__writeString(name)
+    self.__writeBinary(str_to_binary(name))
     self.state = VALUE_WRITE
 
   def writeMessageEnd(self):
@@ -254,10 +256,10 @@
   def writeDouble(self, dub):
     self.trans.write(pack('<d', dub))
 
-  def __writeString(self, s):
+  def __writeBinary(self, s):
     self.__writeSize(len(s))
     self.trans.write(s)
-  writeString = writer(__writeString)
+  writeBinary = writer(__writeBinary)
 
   def readFieldBegin(self):
     assert self.state == FIELD_READ, self.state
@@ -302,7 +304,7 @@
   def __readSize(self):
     result = self.__readVarint()
     if result < 0:
-      raise TException("Length < 0")
+      raise TProtocolException("Length < 0")
     return result
 
   def readMessageBegin(self):
@@ -310,15 +312,15 @@
     proto_id = self.__readUByte()
     if proto_id != self.PROTOCOL_ID:
       raise TProtocolException(TProtocolException.BAD_VERSION,
-          'Bad protocol id in the message: %d' % proto_id)
+                               'Bad protocol id in the message: %d' % proto_id)
     ver_type = self.__readUByte()
     type = (ver_type >> self.TYPE_SHIFT_AMOUNT) & self.TYPE_BITS
     version = ver_type & self.VERSION_MASK
     if version != self.VERSION:
       raise TProtocolException(TProtocolException.BAD_VERSION,
-          'Bad version: %d (expect %d)' % (version, self.VERSION))
+                               'Bad version: %d (expect %d)' % (version, self.VERSION))
     seqid = self.__readVarint()
-    name = self.__readString()
+    name = binary_to_str(self.__readBinary())
     return (name, type, seqid)
 
   def readMessageEnd(self):
@@ -388,10 +390,10 @@
     val, = unpack('<d', buff)
     return val
 
-  def __readString(self):
+  def __readBinary(self):
     len = self.__readSize()
     return self.trans.readAll(len)
-  readString = reader(__readString)
+  readBinary = reader(__readBinary)
 
   def __getTType(self, byte):
     return TTYPES[byte & 0x0f]
diff --git a/lib/py/src/protocol/TJSONProtocol.py b/lib/py/src/protocol/TJSONProtocol.py
index 7807a6c..3ed8bcb 100644
--- a/lib/py/src/protocol/TJSONProtocol.py
+++ b/lib/py/src/protocol/TJSONProtocol.py
@@ -17,11 +17,13 @@
 # under the License.
 #
 
-from TProtocol import TType, TProtocolBase, TProtocolException, \
-    checkIntegerLimits
+from .TProtocol import TType, TProtocolBase, TProtocolException, checkIntegerLimits
 import base64
-import json
 import math
+import sys
+
+from ..compat import str_to_binary
+
 
 __all__ = ['TJSONProtocol',
            'TJSONProtocolFactory',
@@ -30,20 +32,39 @@
 
 VERSION = 1
 
-COMMA = ','
-COLON = ':'
-LBRACE = '{'
-RBRACE = '}'
-LBRACKET = '['
-RBRACKET = ']'
-QUOTE = '"'
-BACKSLASH = '\\'
-ZERO = '0'
+COMMA = b','
+COLON = b':'
+LBRACE = b'{'
+RBRACE = b'}'
+LBRACKET = b'['
+RBRACKET = b']'
+QUOTE = b'"'
+BACKSLASH = b'\\'
+ZERO = b'0'
 
-ESCSEQ = '\\u00'
-ESCAPE_CHAR = '"\\bfnrt/'
-ESCAPE_CHAR_VALS = ['"', '\\', '\b', '\f', '\n', '\r', '\t', '/']
-NUMERIC_CHAR = '+-.0123456789Ee'
+ESCSEQ0 = ord('\\')
+ESCSEQ1 = ord('u')
+ESCAPE_CHAR_VALS = {
+  '"': '\\"',
+  '\\': '\\\\',
+  '\b': '\\b',
+  '\f': '\\f',
+  '\n': '\\n',
+  '\r': '\\r',
+  '\t': '\\t',
+  # '/': '\\/',
+}
+ESCAPE_CHARS = {
+    b'"': '"',
+    b'\\': '\\',
+    b'b': '\b',
+    b'f': '\f',
+    b'n': '\n',
+    b'r': '\r',
+    b't': '\t',
+    b'/': '/',
+}
+NUMERIC_CHAR = b'+-.0123456789Ee'
 
 CTYPES = {TType.BOOL:       'tf',
           TType.BYTE:       'i8',
@@ -70,7 +91,7 @@
 
   def doIO(self, function):
     pass
-  
+
   def write(self):
     pass
 
@@ -85,7 +106,7 @@
 
 
 class JSONListContext(JSONBaseContext):
-    
+
   def doIO(self, function):
     if self.first is True:
       self.first = False
@@ -100,7 +121,7 @@
 
 
 class JSONPairContext(JSONBaseContext):
-  
+
   def __init__(self, protocol):
     super(JSONPairContext, self).__init__(protocol)
     self.colon = True
@@ -146,6 +167,7 @@
     self.hasData = True
     return self.data
 
+
 class TJSONProtocolBase(TProtocolBase):
 
   def __init__(self, trans):
@@ -174,14 +196,22 @@
 
   def writeJSONString(self, string):
     self.context.write()
-    self.trans.write(json.dumps(string, ensure_ascii=False))
+    json_str = ['"']
+    for s in string:
+      escaped = ESCAPE_CHAR_VALS.get(s, s)
+      json_str.append(escaped)
+    json_str.append('"')
+    self.trans.write(str_to_binary(''.join(json_str)))
 
   def writeJSONNumber(self, number, formatter='{}'):
     self.context.write()
-    jsNumber = formatter.format(number)
+    jsNumber = str(formatter.format(number)).encode('ascii')
     if self.context.escapeNum():
-      jsNumber = "%s%s%s" % (QUOTE, jsNumber, QUOTE)
-    self.trans.write(jsNumber)
+      self.trans.write(QUOTE)
+      self.trans.write(jsNumber)
+      self.trans.write(QUOTE)
+    else:
+      self.trans.write(jsNumber)
 
   def writeJSONBase64(self, binary):
     self.context.write()
@@ -222,18 +252,23 @@
       character = self.reader.read()
       if character == QUOTE:
         break
-      if character == ESCSEQ[0]:
+      if ord(character) == ESCSEQ0:
         character = self.reader.read()
-        if character == ESCSEQ[1]:
-          self.readJSONSyntaxChar(ZERO)
-          self.readJSONSyntaxChar(ZERO)
-          character = json.JSONDecoder().decode('"\u00%s"' % self.trans.read(2))
+        if ord(character) == ESCSEQ1:
+          character = chr(int(self.trans.read(4)))
         else:
-          off = ESCAPE_CHAR.find(character)
-          if off == -1:
+          if character not in ESCAPE_CHARS:
             raise TProtocolException(TProtocolException.INVALID_DATA,
                                      "Expected control char")
-          character = ESCAPE_CHAR_VALS[off]
+          character = ESCAPE_CHARS[character]
+      elif character in ESCAPE_CHAR_VALS:
+        raise TProtocolException(TProtocolException.INVALID_DATA,
+                                 "Unescaped control char")
+      elif sys.version_info[0] > 2:
+        utf8_bytes = bytearray([ord(character)])
+        while ord(self.reader.peek()) >= 0x80:
+          utf8_bytes.append(ord(self.reader.read()))
+        character = utf8_bytes.decode('utf8')
       string.append(character)
     return ''.join(string)
 
@@ -251,7 +286,7 @@
       if self.isJSONNumeric(character) is False:
         break
       numeric.append(self.reader.read())
-    return ''.join(numeric)
+    return b''.join(numeric).decode('ascii')
 
   def readJSONInteger(self):
     self.context.read()
@@ -267,12 +302,12 @@
   def readJSONDouble(self):
     self.context.read()
     if self.reader.peek() == QUOTE:
-      string  = self.readJSONString(True)
+      string = self.readJSONString(True)
       try:
         double = float(string)
         if (self.context.escapeNum is False and
-            not math.isinf(double) and
-            not math.isnan(double)):
+           not math.isinf(double) and
+           not math.isnan(double)):
           raise TProtocolException(TProtocolException.INVALID_DATA,
                                    "Numeric data unexpectedly quoted")
         return double
@@ -430,12 +465,12 @@
   def writeMapEnd(self):
     self.writeJSONObjectEnd()
     self.writeJSONArrayEnd()
-    
+
   def writeListBegin(self, etype, size):
     self.writeJSONArrayStart()
     self.writeJSONString(CTYPES[etype])
     self.writeJSONNumber(size)
-    
+
   def writeListEnd(self):
     self.writeJSONArrayEnd()
 
@@ -443,7 +478,7 @@
     self.writeJSONArrayStart()
     self.writeJSONString(CTYPES[etype])
     self.writeJSONNumber(size)
-    
+
   def writeSetEnd(self):
     self.writeJSONArrayEnd()
 
@@ -472,7 +507,7 @@
 
   def writeString(self, string):
     self.writeJSONString(string)
-    
+
   def writeBinary(self, binary):
     self.writeJSONBase64(binary)
 
@@ -485,49 +520,49 @@
 
 class TSimpleJSONProtocol(TJSONProtocolBase):
     """Simple, readable, write-only JSON protocol.
-    
+
     Useful for interacting with scripting languages.
     """
 
     def readMessageBegin(self):
         raise NotImplementedError()
-    
+
     def readMessageEnd(self):
         raise NotImplementedError()
-    
+
     def readStructBegin(self):
         raise NotImplementedError()
-    
+
     def readStructEnd(self):
         raise NotImplementedError()
-    
+
     def writeMessageBegin(self, name, request_type, seqid):
         self.resetWriteContext()
-    
+
     def writeMessageEnd(self):
         pass
-    
+
     def writeStructBegin(self, name):
         self.writeJSONObjectStart()
-    
+
     def writeStructEnd(self):
         self.writeJSONObjectEnd()
-      
+
     def writeFieldBegin(self, name, ttype, fid):
         self.writeJSONString(name)
-    
+
     def writeFieldEnd(self):
         pass
-    
+
     def writeMapBegin(self, ktype, vtype, size):
         self.writeJSONObjectStart()
-    
+
     def writeMapEnd(self):
         self.writeJSONObjectEnd()
-    
+
     def _writeCollectionBegin(self, etype, size):
         self.writeJSONArrayStart()
-    
+
     def _writeCollectionEnd(self):
         self.writeJSONArrayEnd()
     writeListBegin = _writeCollectionBegin
@@ -550,16 +585,16 @@
     def writeI64(self, i64):
         checkIntegerLimits(i64, 64)
         self.writeJSONNumber(i64)
-    
+
     def writeBool(self, boolean):
         self.writeJSONNumber(1 if boolean is True else 0)
 
     def writeDouble(self, dbl):
         self.writeJSONNumber(dbl)
-    
+
     def writeString(self, string):
         self.writeJSONString(string)
-      
+
     def writeBinary(self, binary):
         self.writeJSONBase64(binary)
 
diff --git a/lib/py/src/protocol/TProtocol.py b/lib/py/src/protocol/TProtocol.py
index 311a635..22339c0 100644
--- a/lib/py/src/protocol/TProtocol.py
+++ b/lib/py/src/protocol/TProtocol.py
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@
 # under the License.
 #
 
-from thrift.Thrift import *
+from thrift.Thrift import TException, TType
+import six
+
+from ..compat import binary_to_str, str_to_binary
 
 
 class TProtocolException(TException):
@@ -100,6 +103,9 @@
     pass
 
   def writeString(self, str_val):
+    self.writeBinary(str_to_binary(str_val))
+
+  def writeBinary(self, str_val):
     pass
 
   def readMessageBegin(self):
@@ -157,6 +163,9 @@
     pass
 
   def readString(self):
+    return binary_to_str(self.readBinary())
+
+  def readBinary(self):
     pass
 
   def skip(self, ttype):
@@ -187,18 +196,18 @@
       self.readStructEnd()
     elif ttype == TType.MAP:
       (ktype, vtype, size) = self.readMapBegin()
-      for i in xrange(size):
+      for i in range(size):
         self.skip(ktype)
         self.skip(vtype)
       self.readMapEnd()
     elif ttype == TType.SET:
       (etype, size) = self.readSetBegin()
-      for i in xrange(size):
+      for i in range(size):
         self.skip(etype)
       self.readSetEnd()
     elif ttype == TType.LIST:
       (etype, size) = self.readListBegin()
-      for i in xrange(size):
+      for i in range(size):
         self.skip(etype)
       self.readListEnd()
 
@@ -246,13 +255,13 @@
     (list_type, list_len) = self.readListBegin()
     if tspec is None:
       # list values are simple types
-      for idx in xrange(list_len):
+      for idx in range(list_len):
         results.append(reader())
     else:
       # this is like an inlined readFieldByTType
       container_reader = self._TTYPE_HANDLERS[list_type][0]
       val_reader = getattr(self, container_reader)
-      for idx in xrange(list_len):
+      for idx in range(list_len):
         val = val_reader(tspec)
         results.append(val)
     self.readListEnd()
@@ -266,12 +275,12 @@
     (set_type, set_len) = self.readSetBegin()
     if tspec is None:
       # set members are simple types
-      for idx in xrange(set_len):
+      for idx in range(set_len):
         results.add(reader())
     else:
       container_reader = self._TTYPE_HANDLERS[set_type][0]
       val_reader = getattr(self, container_reader)
-      for idx in xrange(set_len):
+      for idx in range(set_len):
         results.add(val_reader(tspec))
     self.readSetEnd()
     return results
@@ -292,7 +301,7 @@
     key_reader = getattr(self, self._TTYPE_HANDLERS[key_ttype][0])
     val_reader = getattr(self, self._TTYPE_HANDLERS[val_ttype][0])
     # list values are simple types
-    for idx in xrange(map_len):
+    for idx in range(map_len):
       if key_spec is None:
         k_val = key_reader()
       else:
@@ -363,7 +372,7 @@
     k_writer = getattr(self, ktype_name)
     v_writer = getattr(self, vtype_name)
     self.writeMapBegin(k_type, v_type, len(val))
-    for m_key, m_val in val.iteritems():
+    for m_key, m_val in six.iteritems(val):
       if not k_is_container:
         k_writer(m_key)
       else:
@@ -402,6 +411,7 @@
     else:
       writer(val)
 
+
 def checkIntegerLimits(i, bits):
     if bits == 8 and (i < -128 or i > 127):
         raise TProtocolException(TProtocolException.INVALID_DATA,
@@ -416,6 +426,7 @@
          raise TProtocolException(TProtocolException.INVALID_DATA,
                                   "i64 requires -9223372036854775808 <= number <= 9223372036854775807")
 
+
 class TProtocolFactory:
   def getProtocol(self, trans):
     pass