diff --git a/barbican/api/controllers/__init__.py b/barbican/api/controllers/__init__.py
index f48b2be73..d789bc454 100644
--- a/barbican/api/controllers/__init__.py
+++ b/barbican/api/controllers/__init__.py
@@ -132,14 +132,10 @@ def _do_enforce_content_types(pecan_req, valid_content_types):
     types passed in by our caller.
     """
     if pecan_req.content_type not in valid_content_types:
-        content_type = pecan_req.content_type
-        if isinstance(content_type, bytes):
-            content_type = content_type.decode('utf-8')
         m = u._(
-            "Unexpected content type: {type}. Expected content types "
+            "Unexpected content type. Expected content types "
             "are: {expected}"
         ).format(
-            type=content_type,
             expected=valid_content_types
         )
         pecan.abort(415, m)
diff --git a/barbican/common/validators.py b/barbican/common/validators.py
index d95a568d8..0b3d2930c 100644
--- a/barbican/common/validators.py
+++ b/barbican/common/validators.py
@@ -257,8 +257,7 @@ class NewSecretValidator(ValidatorBase):
                     mime_types.is_supported(content_type),
                     schema_name,
                     u._("payload_content_type is not one of {supported}"
-                        ).format(supplied=content_type,
-                                 supported=mime_types.SUPPORTED),
+                        ).format(supported=mime_types.SUPPORTED),
                     "payload_content_type")
 
         return json_data
@@ -316,9 +315,8 @@ class NewSecretValidator(ValidatorBase):
         self._assert_validity(
             mime_types.is_supported(content_type),
             schema_name,
-            u._("payload_content_type {supplied} is not one of {supported}"
-                ).format(supplied=content_type,
-                         supported=mime_types.SUPPORTED),
+            u._("payload_content_type is not one of {supported}"
+                ).format(supported=mime_types.SUPPORTED),
             "payload_content_type")
 
         self._assert_validity(
diff --git a/barbican/tests/certificate_utils.py b/barbican/tests/certificate_utils.py
index 0bbfbd3ae..cfb4bf950 100644
--- a/barbican/tests/certificate_utils.py
+++ b/barbican/tests/certificate_utils.py
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ def create_csr_signed_with_wrong_key():
 
 def create_bad_csr():
     """Generate a CSR that will not parse."""
-    return "Bad PKCS10 Data"
+    return b"Bad PKCS10 Data"
 
 
 def create_csr_with_bad_subject_dn():
diff --git a/barbican/tests/keys.py b/barbican/tests/keys.py
index 43d1337f6..ee26bad0c 100644
--- a/barbican/tests/keys.py
+++ b/barbican/tests/keys.py
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ def get_encrypted_private_key_pem():
     of the private_encrypted.pk8 file.
     """
 
-    return """-----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----
+    return b"""-----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----
 MIIE6TAbBgkqhkiG9w0BBQMwDgQIssadeQrYhhACAggABIIEyDNw3SV2b19yy4Q/
 kTbtJ/p2X2zKDqr7GgLeAowqqhcMfvprI7G8C0XtwxkR4SjMZUXNcmOwQB2kNKtK
 ZilCz6pSx81iUj4s1fU460XkhkIeV+F7aB2PsTG1oDfPCuzKFjT6EuSE6lFUH89r
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ def get_passphrase_txt():
     of the passphrase.txt file.
     """
 
-    return """password"""
+    return b"""password"""
 
 
 def get_csr_pem():
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ def get_csr_pem():
     of the csr.pem file.
     """
 
-    return """-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
+    return b"""-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
 MIICWzCCAUMCAQAwFjEUMBIGA1UEAwwLZXhhbXBsZS5jb20wggEiMA0GCSqGSIb3
 DQEBAQUAA4IBDwAwggEKAoIBAQCza2VoDXmBUMmwjFu9F6MM5q/AZ1WjnWA2YNdN
 y237TrGN/nobDDv8FBBpUPmHNZ04H1LyxFcP8ReFrcIXpifsReu2lAWaqRPxovu5
diff --git a/functionaltests/api/base.py b/functionaltests/api/base.py
index 61c57b9dc..c543d9fce 100644
--- a/functionaltests/api/base.py
+++ b/functionaltests/api/base.py
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ conf_multiple_backends_enabled = CONF.keymanager.\
 
 class TestCase(oslotest.BaseTestCase):
     max_payload_size = 10000
-    max_sized_payload = 'a' * max_payload_size
-    oversized_payload = 'a' * (max_payload_size + 1)
+    max_sized_payload = b'a' * max_payload_size
+    oversized_payload = b'a' * (max_payload_size + 1)
     max_field_size = 255
     max_sized_field = 'a' * max_field_size
     oversized_field = 'a' * (max_field_size + 1)
diff --git a/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_certificate_orders.py b/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_certificate_orders.py
index 3d3bb5ec9..64fba55f0 100644
--- a/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_certificate_orders.py
+++ b/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_certificate_orders.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 import base64
 import copy
-import json
+from oslo_serialization import jsonutils
 import time
 
 from OpenSSL import crypto
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ class CertificatesTestCase(base.TestCase):
                          order_resp.model.sub_status_message)
 
     def confirm_error_message(self, resp, message):
-        resp_dict = json.loads(resp.content)
+        resp_dict = jsonutils.loads(resp.content)
         self.assertEqual(message, resp_dict['description'])
 
     @testtools.testcase.attr('positive')
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ class CertificatesTestCase(base.TestCase):
         create_resp, order_ref = self.behaviors.create_order(test_model)
         self.assertEqual(400, create_resp.status_code)
         self.assertIsNone(order_ref)
-        error_description = json.loads(create_resp.content)['description']
+        error_description = jsonutils.loads(create_resp.content)['description']
         self.assertIn("Invalid PKCS10 Data", error_description)
 
     @testtools.testcase.attr('negative')
diff --git a/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_containers.py b/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_containers.py
index 227794525..bb7f0c0e3 100644
--- a/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_containers.py
+++ b/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_containers.py
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ create_container_rsa_data = {
 accepted_str_values = {
     'alphanumeric': ['a2j3j6ll9'],
     'punctuation': ['~!@#$%^&*()_+`-={}[]|:;<>,.?'],
-    'len_255': [str(bytearray().zfill(255))],
+    'len_255': [base.TestCase.max_sized_field],
     'uuid': ['54262d9d-4bc7-4821-8df0-dc2ca8e112bb'],
     'empty': ['']
 }
diff --git a/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_orders.py b/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_orders.py
index 8aaafa88a..0dafc21dc 100644
--- a/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_orders.py
+++ b/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_orders.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-import json
+from oslo_serialization import jsonutils
 import sys
 import time
 
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ class OrdersTestCase(base.TestCase):
         resp, order_ref = self.behaviors.create_order(test_model)
 
         # Make sure we actually get a message back
-        error_msg = json.loads(resp.content).get('title')
+        error_msg = jsonutils.loads(resp.content).get('title')
 
         self.assertEqual(400, resp.status_code)
         self.assertIsNotNone(error_msg)
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ class OrdersTestCase(base.TestCase):
         self.assertIsNotNone(order_ref)
 
     @utils.parameterized_dataset({
-        'negative_maxint': [-sys.maxint],
+        'negative_maxint': [-sys.maxsize],
         'negative_7': [-7],
         'negative_1': [-1],
         '0': [0],
diff --git a/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_secretmeta.py b/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_secretmeta.py
index e107d3d06..e6425440b 100644
--- a/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_secretmeta.py
+++ b/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_secretmeta.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-import json
+from oslo_serialization import jsonutils
 from testtools import testcase
 import uuid
 
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@ class SecretMetadataTestCase(base.TestCase):
 
         get_resp = self.behaviors.get_metadata(secret_ref)
         self.assertEqual(200, get_resp.status_code)
-        self.assertEqual(json.loads(get_resp.content), self.valid_metadata)
+        self.assertEqual(jsonutils.loads(get_resp.content),
+                         self.valid_metadata)
 
     @testcase.attr('negative')
     def test_secret_metadata_get_no_secret(self):
@@ -166,7 +167,8 @@ class SecretMetadataTestCase(base.TestCase):
         get_resp = self.behaviors.get_metadatum(secret_ref,
                                                 self.valid_metadatum_key)
         self.assertEqual(200, get_resp.status_code)
-        self.assertEqual(json.loads(get_resp.content), self.valid_metadatum)
+        self.assertEqual(jsonutils.loads(get_resp.content),
+                         self.valid_metadatum)
 
     @testcase.attr('negative')
     def test_secret_metadatum_get_wrong_key(self):
diff --git a/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_secrets.py b/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_secrets.py
index 8122161e7..0efd18796 100644
--- a/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_secrets.py
+++ b/functionaltests/api/v1/functional/test_secrets.py
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-import base64
-import binascii
-import json
+from oslo_serialization import base64 as oslo_base64
+from oslo_serialization import jsonutils
+import six
 import sys
 import testtools
 import time
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ admin_b = CONF.rbac_users.admin_b
 
 def get_pem_content(pem):
     b64_content = translations.get_pem_components(pem)[1]
-    return base64.b64decode(b64_content)
+    return oslo_base64.decode_as_bytes(b64_content)
 
 
 def get_private_key_req():
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ def get_private_key_req():
             'algorithm': 'rsa',
             'bit_length': 2048,
             'secret_type': 'private',
-            'payload': base64.b64encode(keys.get_private_key_pem())}
+            'payload': oslo_base64.encode_as_bytes(keys.get_private_key_pem())}
 
 
 def get_public_key_req():
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ def get_public_key_req():
             'algorithm': 'rsa',
             'bit_length': 2048,
             'secret_type': 'public',
-            'payload': base64.b64encode(keys.get_public_key_pem())}
+            'payload': oslo_base64.encode_as_bytes(keys.get_public_key_pem())}
 
 
 def get_certificate_req():
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def get_certificate_req():
             'algorithm': 'rsa',
             'bit_length': 2048,
             'secret_type': 'certificate',
-            'payload': base64.b64encode(keys.get_certificate_pem())}
+            'payload': oslo_base64.encode_as_bytes(keys.get_certificate_pem())}
 
 
 def get_passphrase_req():
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ def get_default_data():
 
 
 def get_default_payload():
-    return "AQIDBAUGBwgBAgMEBQYHCAECAwQFBgcIAQIDBAUGBwg="
+    return b"AQIDBAUGBwgBAgMEBQYHCAECAwQFBgcIAQIDBAUGBwg="
 
 
 @utils.parameterized_test_case
@@ -226,8 +226,8 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
             payload_content_type='',
             omit_headers=['Accept'])
         self.assertEqual(200, get_resp.status_code)
-        self.assertIn(test_model.payload,
-                      binascii.b2a_base64(get_resp.content))
+        self.assertEqual(test_model.payload,
+                         oslo_base64.encode_as_bytes(get_resp.content))
 
     @testcase.attr('negative')
     def test_secret_delete_doesnt_exist(self):
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
         """
         test_model = secret_models.SecretModel(
             **self.default_secret_create_data)
-        test_model.payload = str(self.oversized_payload)
+        test_model.payload = self.oversized_payload
 
         resp, secret_ref = self.behaviors.create_secret(test_model)
         self.assertEqual(413, resp.status_code)
@@ -399,11 +399,11 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
 
         Launchpad bug #1315498.
         """
-        oversized_payload = bytearray().zfill(self.max_payload_size + 1)
+        oversized_payload = bytearray(self.oversized_payload)
 
         # put a value in the middle of the data that does not have a UTF-8
-        # code point.  Using // to be python3-friendly.
-        oversized_payload[self.max_payload_size // 2] = b'\xb0'
+        # code point.  Using // and 176 to be python3-friendly.
+        oversized_payload[self.max_payload_size // 2] = 176  # 0xb0
 
         test_model = secret_models.SecretModel(
             **self.default_secret_create_two_phase_data)
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
             secret_ref=secret_ref,
             payload_content_type='application/octet-stream',
             payload_content_encoding='base64',
-            payload=str(oversized_payload))
+            payload=oversized_payload)
         self.assertEqual(413, put_resp.status_code)
 
     @testcase.attr('negative')
@@ -490,7 +490,7 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
             **self.default_secret_create_two_phase_data)
         test_model.payload_content_encoding = 'base64'
         test_model.payload_content_type = 'application/octet-stream'
-        test_model.payload = base64.b64encode('abcdef')
+        test_model.payload = oslo_base64.encode_as_bytes('abcdef')
 
         resp, secret_ref = self.behaviors.create_secret(test_model)
         self.assertEqual(201, resp.status_code)
@@ -500,8 +500,8 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
             payload_content_type=test_model.payload_content_type,
             payload_content_encoding=test_model.payload_content_encoding)
         self.assertEqual(200, get_resp.status_code)
-        self.assertIn(test_model.payload,
-                      binascii.b2a_base64(get_resp.content))
+        self.assertEqual(test_model.payload,
+                         oslo_base64.encode_as_bytes(get_resp.content))
 
     @testcase.attr('negative')
     def test_secret_create_defaults_bad_content_type_check_message(self):
@@ -515,11 +515,11 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
         # first, ensure that the return code is 400
         self.assertEqual(400, resp.status_code)
 
-        resp_dict = json.loads(resp.content)
+        resp_dict = jsonutils.loads(resp.content)
 
         self.assertIn(
             "Provided object does not match schema 'Secret': "
-            "payload_content_type plain-text is not one of ['text/plain', "
+            "payload_content_type is not one of ['text/plain', "
             "'text/plain;charset=utf-8', 'text/plain; charset=utf-8', "
             "'application/octet-stream'", resp_dict['description'])
         self.assertIn("Bad Request", resp_dict['title'])
@@ -642,11 +642,11 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
     @testcase.attr('positive')
     def test_secret_create_with_valid_bit_length(self, bit_length):
         """Covers cases of creating secrets with valid bit lengths."""
-        byte_length = bit_length / 8
+        byte_length = bit_length // 8
         secret = bytearray(byte_length)
         for x in range(0, byte_length):
             secret[x] = x
-        secret64 = base64.b64encode(secret)
+        secret64 = oslo_base64.encode_as_bytes(secret)
 
         test_model = secret_models.SecretModel(
             **self.default_secret_create_data)
@@ -660,7 +660,7 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
         'str_type': ['not-an-int'],
         'empty': [''],
         'blank': [' '],
-        'negative_maxint': [-sys.maxint],
+        'negative_maxint': [-sys.maxsize],
         'negative_one': [-1],
         'zero': [0]
     })
@@ -739,10 +739,10 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(200, get_resp.status_code)
 
         if payload_content_encoding == 'base64':
-            self.assertIn(test_model.payload,
-                          binascii.b2a_base64(get_resp.content))
+            self.assertEqual(test_model.payload,
+                             oslo_base64.encode_as_bytes(get_resp.content))
         else:
-            self.assertIn(test_model.payload, get_resp.content)
+            self.assertEqual(test_model.payload, get_resp.content)
 
     @utils.parameterized_dataset({
         'text_content_type_none_encoding': {
@@ -780,10 +780,10 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(200, get_resp.status_code)
 
         if payload_content_encoding == 'base64':
-            self.assertIn(test_model.payload,
-                          binascii.b2a_base64(get_resp.content))
+            self.assertEqual(test_model.payload,
+                             oslo_base64.encode_as_bytes(get_resp.content))
         else:
-            self.assertIn(test_model.payload, get_resp.content)
+            self.assertEqual(test_model.payload, get_resp.content)
 
     @utils.parameterized_dataset({
         'empty_content_type_and_encoding': {
@@ -885,8 +885,8 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
         'array': [['boom']],
         'int': [123],
         'none': [None],
-        'bad_character': [unichr(0x0080)],
-        'bad_characters': [unichr(0x1111) + unichr(0xffff)]
+        'bad_character': [six.unichr(0x0080)],
+        'bad_characters': [six.unichr(0x1111) + six.unichr(0xffff)]
     })
     @testcase.attr('negative')
     def test_secret_create_defaults_invalid_payload(self, payload):
@@ -998,7 +998,7 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
 
     @utils.parameterized_dataset({
         'symmetric': ['symmetric',
-                      base64.b64decode(
+                      oslo_base64.decode_as_bytes(
                           get_default_payload()),
                       get_default_data()],
         'private': ['private',
@@ -1011,7 +1011,7 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
                         keys.get_certificate_pem(),
                         get_certificate_req()],
         'passphrase': ['passphrase',
-                       'mysecretpassphrase',
+                       b'mysecretpassphrase',
                        get_passphrase_req()]
     })
     @testcase.attr('positive')
@@ -1180,7 +1180,7 @@ class SecretsUnauthedTestCase(base.TestCase):
 
         stored_auth = self.client._auth[
             self.client._default_user_name].stored_auth
-        project_id = stored_auth.values()[0]['project_id']
+        project_id = list(stored_auth.values())[0]['project_id']
         self.project_id_header = {
             'X-Project-Id': project_id
         }
@@ -1532,7 +1532,7 @@ class SecretsMultipleBackendTestCase(base.TestCase):
         'symmetric_type_preferred_store': [
             admin_a,
             'symmetric',
-            base64.b64decode(get_default_payload()),
+            oslo_base64.decode_as_bytes(get_default_payload()),
             get_default_data()
             ],
         'private_type_preferred_store': [
@@ -1562,7 +1562,7 @@ class SecretsMultipleBackendTestCase(base.TestCase):
         'symmetric_type_no_preferred_store': [
             admin_b,
             'symmetric',
-            base64.b64decode(get_default_payload()),
+            oslo_base64.decode_as_bytes(get_default_payload()),
             get_default_data()
             ],
         'private_type_no_preferred_store': [
@@ -1586,7 +1586,7 @@ class SecretsMultipleBackendTestCase(base.TestCase):
         'passphrase_type_no_preferred_store': [
             admin_b,
             'passphrase',
-            'mysecretpassphrase',
+            b'mysecretpassphrase',
             get_passphrase_req()
             ],
     })
diff --git a/functionaltests/api/v1/models/base_models.py b/functionaltests/api/v1/models/base_models.py
index 68ff34f0b..a56a72e51 100644
--- a/functionaltests/api/v1/models/base_models.py
+++ b/functionaltests/api/v1/models/base_models.py
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 """
-import json
 import logging
+from oslo_serialization import jsonutils
 
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -34,8 +34,7 @@ class BaseModel(object):
 
         :return: A string of JSON containing the fields in this object
         """
-
-        return json.dumps(self.obj_to_dict())
+        return jsonutils.dump_as_bytes(self.obj_to_dict())
 
     def obj_to_dict(self):
         """Create a dict of the values for this model object.
@@ -75,7 +74,7 @@ class BaseModel(object):
         :return: a secret object
         """
         try:
-            json_dict = json.loads(serialized_str)
+            json_dict = jsonutils.loads(serialized_str)
             return cls.dict_to_obj(json_dict)
         except TypeError as e:
             LOG.error('Couldn\'t deserialize input: %s\n Because: %s',
diff --git a/functionaltests/api/v1/smoke/test_containers.py b/functionaltests/api/v1/smoke/test_containers.py
index 110540187..61d901297 100644
--- a/functionaltests/api/v1/smoke/test_containers.py
+++ b/functionaltests/api/v1/smoke/test_containers.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ create_secret_defaults_data = {
     "algorithm": "aes",
     "bit_length": 256,
     "mode": "cbc",
-    "payload": "gF6+lLoF3ohA9aPRpt+6bQ==",
+    "payload": b"gF6+lLoF3ohA9aPRpt+6bQ==",
     "payload_content_type": "application/octet-stream",
     "payload_content_encoding": "base64",
 }
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ class ContainersTestCase(base.TestCase):
     @utils.parameterized_dataset({
         'alphanumeric': ['a2j3j6ll9'],
         'punctuation': ['~!@#$%^&*()_+`-={}[]|:;<>,.?'],
-        'len_255': [str(bytearray().zfill(255))],
+        'len_255': [base.TestCase.max_sized_field],
         'uuid': ['54262d9d-4bc7-4821-8df0-dc2ca8e112bb'],
         'empty': ['']
     })
diff --git a/functionaltests/api/v1/smoke/test_secrets.py b/functionaltests/api/v1/smoke/test_secrets.py
index dc990d17d..90bff10f5 100644
--- a/functionaltests/api/v1/smoke/test_secrets.py
+++ b/functionaltests/api/v1/smoke/test_secrets.py
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@
 # implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-import binascii
 import copy
 
+from oslo_serialization import base64 as oslo_base64
 from testtools import testcase
 
 from barbican.tests import utils
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ default_secret_create_data = {
     "algorithm": "aes",
     "bit_length": 256,
     "mode": "cbc",
-    "payload": "gF6+lLoF3ohA9aPRpt+6bQ==",
+    "payload": b"gF6+lLoF3ohA9aPRpt+6bQ==",
     "payload_content_type": "application/octet-stream",
     "payload_content_encoding": "base64",
 }
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ default_secret_create_emptystrings_data = {
     "algorithm": '',
     "bit_length": '',
     "mode": '',
-    "payload": '',
+    "payload": b'',
     "payload_content_type": '',
     "payload_content_encoding": '',
 }
@@ -102,13 +102,13 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
         resp = self.behaviors.get_secret_metadata(secret_ref)
         self.assertEqual(200, resp.status_code)
         self.assertEqual("ACTIVE", resp.model.status)
-        self.assertGreater(resp.model.secret_ref, 0)
+        self.assertTrue(resp.model.secret_ref)
 
     @utils.parameterized_dataset({
         'alphanumeric': ['1f34ds'],
         'punctuation': ['~!@#$%^&*()_+`-={}[]|:;<>,.?'],
         'uuid': ['54262d9d-4bc7-4821-8df0-dc2ca8e112bb'],
-        'len_255': [str(bytearray().zfill(255))],
+        'len_255': [base.TestCase.max_sized_field],
         'empty': [''],
         'null': [None]
     })
@@ -175,8 +175,8 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
         get_resp = self.behaviors.get_secret(secret_ref,
                                              test_model.payload_content_type)
         self.assertEqual(200, get_resp.status_code)
-        self.assertIn(test_model.payload,
-                      binascii.b2a_base64(get_resp.content))
+        self.assertEqual(test_model.payload,
+                         oslo_base64.encode_as_bytes(get_resp.content))
 
     @testcase.attr('positive')
     def test_secret_update_two_phase(self):
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(201, resp.status_code)
 
         # Update
-        payload = "gF6+lLoF3ohA9aPRpt+6bQ=="
+        payload = b"gF6+lLoF3ohA9aPRpt+6bQ=="
         payload_content_type = "application/octet-stream"
         payload_content_encoding = "base64"
 
@@ -204,8 +204,8 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
             secret_ref=secret_ref,
             payload_content_type=payload_content_type)
         self.assertEqual(200, sec_resp.status_code)
-        self.assertIn('gF6+lLoF3ohA9aPRpt+6bQ==',
-                      binascii.b2a_base64(sec_resp.content))
+        self.assertEqual(b'gF6+lLoF3ohA9aPRpt+6bQ==',
+                         oslo_base64.encode_as_bytes(sec_resp.content))
 
     @testcase.attr('positive')
     def test_secrets_get_multiple_secrets(self):
diff --git a/functionaltests/common/client.py b/functionaltests/common/client.py
index 9bfbedae4..9235055d9 100644
--- a/functionaltests/common/client.py
+++ b/functionaltests/common/client.py
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ limitations under the License.
 import logging
 import os
 
+from oslo_serialization import base64
 import requests
+import six
 from six.moves import urllib
 from tempest.lib.common.utils import test_utils
 
@@ -86,6 +88,17 @@ class BarbicanClient(object):
             retval.append(username)
         return retval
 
+    def _attempt_ascii(self, text):
+        """Attempt to decode to ascii, works with py27 and py35
+
+        Throw an encode or decode exception is text can not be
+        presented in ascii.
+        """
+        if isinstance(text, six.text_type):
+            return text.encode('ascii')
+        else:
+            return text.decode('ascii')
+
     def _attempt_to_stringify_content(self, content, content_tag):
         if content is None:
             return content
@@ -93,12 +106,12 @@ class BarbicanClient(object):
             # NOTE(jaosorior): The content is decoded as ascii since the
             # logging module has problems with utf-8 strings and will end up
             # trying to decode this as ascii.
-            return content.decode('ascii')
-        except UnicodeDecodeError:
+            return self._attempt_ascii(content)
+        except (UnicodeDecodeError, UnicodeEncodeError):
             # NOTE(jaosorior): Since we are using base64 as default and this is
             # only for logging (in order to debug); Lets not put too much
             # effort in this and just use encoded string.
-            return content.encode('base64')
+            return base64.encode_as_text(content)
 
     def stringify_request(self, request_kwargs, response):
         format_kwargs = {
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index f2c62fcce..e849c188a 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -73,6 +73,15 @@ commands =
     /bin/bash {toxinidir}/functionaltests/pretty_tox.sh '{posargs}'
 passenv = KMIP_PLUGIN_ENABLED
 
+[testenv:py35functional]
+basepython = python3
+deps = -r{toxinidir}/test-requirements.txt
+setenv = OS_TEST_PATH={toxinidir}/functionaltests
+commands =
+    /usr/bin/find . -type f -name "*.py[c|o]" -delete
+    /bin/bash {toxinidir}/functionaltests/pretty_tox.sh '{posargs}'
+passenv = KMIP_PLUGIN_ENABLED
+
 [testenv:cmd]
 # This tox env is purely to make local test development easier
 # Note: This requires local running instances of Barbican and Keystone