diff --git a/tools/download_file.py b/tools/download_file.py
index d4ddf1c2d6..d5d8b66b74 100755
--- a/tools/download_file.py
+++ b/tools/download_file.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ GERRIT_HOME = path.expanduser('~/.gerritcodereview')
 CACHE_DIR = path.join(GERRIT_HOME, 'buck-cache')
 LOCAL_PROPERTIES = 'local.properties'
 
+
 def hashfile(p):
   d = sha1()
   with open(p, 'rb') as f:
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ def hashfile(p):
       d.update(b)
   return d.hexdigest()
 
+
 def safe_mkdirs(d):
   if path.isdir(d):
     return
@@ -47,6 +49,7 @@ def safe_mkdirs(d):
     if not path.isdir(d):
       raise err
 
+
 def download_properties(root_dir):
   """ Get the download properties.
 
@@ -73,6 +76,7 @@ def download_properties(root_dir):
       pass
   return p
 
+
 def cache_entry(args):
   if args.v:
     h = args.v
@@ -81,6 +85,7 @@ def cache_entry(args):
   name = '%s-%s' % (path.basename(args.o), h)
   return path.join(CACHE_DIR, name)
 
+
 opts = OptionParser()
 opts.add_option('-o', help='local output file')
 opts.add_option('-u', help='URL to download')
@@ -137,30 +142,24 @@ if args.x:
   exclude += args.x
 if args.exclude_java_sources:
   try:
-    zf = ZipFile(cache_ent, 'r')
-    try:
+    with ZipFile(cache_ent, 'r') as zf:
       for n in zf.namelist():
         if n.endswith('.java'):
           exclude.append(n)
-    finally:
-      zf.close()
   except (BadZipfile, LargeZipFile) as err:
-    print('error opening %s: %s'  % (cache_ent, err), file=stderr)
+    print('error opening %s: %s' % (cache_ent, err), file=stderr)
     exit(1)
 
 if args.unsign:
   try:
-    zf = ZipFile(cache_ent, 'r')
-    try:
+    with ZipFile(cache_ent, 'r') as zf:
       for n in zf.namelist():
         if (n.endswith('.RSA')
             or n.endswith('.SF')
             or n.endswith('.LIST')):
           exclude.append(n)
-    finally:
-      zf.close()
   except (BadZipfile, LargeZipFile) as err:
-    print('error opening %s: %s'  % (cache_ent, err), file=stderr)
+    print('error opening %s: %s' % (cache_ent, err), file=stderr)
     exit(1)
 
 safe_mkdirs(path.dirname(args.o))
diff --git a/tools/maven/mvn.py b/tools/maven/mvn.py
index 6a33bcfe30..cc10816a6a 100644
--- a/tools/maven/mvn.py
+++ b/tools/maven/mvn.py
@@ -16,9 +16,8 @@
 from __future__ import print_function
 from optparse import OptionParser
 from os import path, environ
-
+from subprocess import check_output
 from sys import stderr
-from tools.util import check_output
 
 opts = OptionParser()
 opts.add_option('--repository', help='maven repository id')
diff --git a/tools/pack_war.py b/tools/pack_war.py
index 09ff054df0..ee87b510cf 100755
--- a/tools/pack_war.py
+++ b/tools/pack_war.py
@@ -16,9 +16,8 @@
 from __future__ import print_function
 from optparse import OptionParser
 from os import getcwd, chdir, makedirs, path, symlink
-from subprocess import check_call
+from subprocess import check_call, check_output
 import sys
-from util import check_output
 
 opts = OptionParser()
 opts.add_option('-o', help='path to write WAR to')
@@ -31,6 +30,7 @@ war = args.tmp
 root = war[:war.index('buck-out')]
 jars = set()
 
+
 def link_jars(libs, directory):
   makedirs(directory)
   while not path.isfile('.buckconfig'):
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ if args.pgmlib:
 try:
   for s in ctx:
     check_call(['unzip', '-q', '-d', war, s])
-  check_call(['zip', '-9qr', args.o, '.'], cwd = war)
+  check_call(['zip', '-9qr', args.o, '.'], cwd=war)
 except KeyboardInterrupt:
   print('Interrupted by user', file=sys.stderr)
   exit(1)
diff --git a/tools/util.py b/tools/util.py
index 9115ac7aa4..6dfe7194ac 100644
--- a/tools/util.py
+++ b/tools/util.py
@@ -14,13 +14,6 @@
 
 from os import path
 
-try:
-  from subprocess import check_output
-except ImportError:
-  from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
-  def check_output(*cmd):
-    return Popen(*cmd, stdout=PIPE).communicate()[0]
-
 REPO_ROOTS = {
   'GERRIT': 'http://gerrit-maven.storage.googleapis.com',
   'GERRIT_API': 'https://gerrit-api.commondatastorage.googleapis.com/release',
@@ -29,6 +22,7 @@ REPO_ROOTS = {
   'MAVEN_LOCAL': 'file://' + path.expanduser('~/.m2/repository'),
 }
 
+
 def resolve_url(url, redirects):
   """ Resolve URL of a Maven artifact.