diff --git a/ceilometer/api/controllers/v2.py b/ceilometer/api/controllers/v2.py
index 646d02ee..34fb4bb7 100644
--- a/ceilometer/api/controllers/v2.py
+++ b/ceilometer/api/controllers/v2.py
@@ -661,7 +661,7 @@ class OldSample(_Base):
             counter_volume = float(counter_volume)
         resource_metadata = _flatten_metadata(resource_metadata)
         # this is to make it easier for clients to pass a timestamp in
-        if timestamp and isinstance(timestamp, basestring):
+        if timestamp and isinstance(timestamp, six.string_types):
             timestamp = timeutils.parse_isotime(timestamp)
 
         super(OldSample, self).__init__(counter_volume=counter_volume,
diff --git a/ceilometer/compute/util.py b/ceilometer/compute/util.py
index fbf21454..56b3b1f5 100644
--- a/ceilometer/compute/util.py
+++ b/ceilometer/compute/util.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 # under the License.
 
 from oslo.config import cfg
+import six
 
 
 OPTS = [
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ def add_reserved_user_metadata(src_metadata, dest_metadata):
     for prefix in cfg.CONF.reserved_metadata_namespace:
         md = dict(
             (k[len(prefix):].replace('.', '_'),
-             v[:limit] if isinstance(v, basestring) else v)
+             v[:limit] if isinstance(v, six.string_types) else v)
             for k, v in src_metadata.items()
             if (k.startswith(prefix) and
                 k[len(prefix):].replace('.', '_') not in dest_metadata)
diff --git a/ceilometer/storage/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/020_add_metadata_tables.py b/ceilometer/storage/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/020_add_metadata_tables.py
index e22fe5d0..058a317d 100644
--- a/ceilometer/storage/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/020_add_metadata_tables.py
+++ b/ceilometer/storage/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/020_add_metadata_tables.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 # under the License.
 import json
 
+import six
 from sqlalchemy import Boolean
 from sqlalchemy import Column
 from sqlalchemy import Float
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ def upgrade(migrate_engine):
             rmeta = json.loads(row['resource_metadata'])
             for key, v in utils.dict_to_keyval(rmeta):
                 ins = None
-                if isinstance(v, basestring) or v is None:
+                if isinstance(v, six.string_types) or v is None:
                     ins = meta_tables['metadata_text'].insert()
                 elif isinstance(v, bool):
                     ins = meta_tables['metadata_bool'].insert()
diff --git a/ceilometer/tests/alarm/test_rpc.py b/ceilometer/tests/alarm/test_rpc.py
index 292c5158..3b286761 100644
--- a/ceilometer/tests/alarm/test_rpc.py
+++ b/ceilometer/tests/alarm/test_rpc.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import uuid
 
 from ceilometerclient.v2 import alarms
 import eventlet
+import six
 
 from ceilometer.alarm import rpc as rpc_alarm
 from ceilometer.alarm.storage import models
@@ -122,7 +123,7 @@ class TestRPCAlarmNotifier(tests_base.BaseTestCase):
         self.notifier.notify(self.alarms[0], 'ok', 42, {})
         self.notifier_server.rpc.wait()
         reason = self.notifier_server.notified[0]['reason']
-        self.assertIsInstance(reason, basestring)
+        self.assertIsInstance(reason, six.string_types)
 
     def test_notify_no_actions(self):
         alarm = alarms.Alarm(None, info={
diff --git a/ceilometer/transformer/conversions.py b/ceilometer/transformer/conversions.py
index 7e1cbb6f..960297a5 100644
--- a/ceilometer/transformer/conversions.py
+++ b/ceilometer/transformer/conversions.py
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 
 import re
 
+import six
+
 from ceilometer.openstack.common.gettextutils import _
 from ceilometer.openstack.common import log
 from ceilometer.openstack.common import timeutils
@@ -56,7 +58,7 @@ class ScalingTransformer(transformer.TransformerBase):
         ns = transformer.Namespace(s.as_dict())
 
         scale = self.scale
-        return ((eval(scale, {}, ns) if isinstance(scale, basestring)
+        return ((eval(scale, {}, ns) if isinstance(scale, six.string_types)
                  else s.volume * scale) if scale else s.volume)
 
     def _map(self, s, attr):