diff --git a/tests/unit/test_policies.py b/tests/unit/test_policies.py
index bd8426cd..ba389c76 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_policies.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_policies.py
@@ -140,20 +140,21 @@ class RoundRobinPolicyTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
         # make the GIL switch after every instruction, maximizing
         # the chace of race conditions
-        if six.PY2:
+        check = six.PY2 or '__pypy__' in sys.builtin_module_names
+        if check:
             original_interval = sys.getcheckinterval()
         else:
             original_interval = sys.getswitchinterval()
 
         try:
-            if six.PY2:
+            if check:
                 sys.setcheckinterval(0)
             else:
                 sys.setswitchinterval(0.0001)
             map(lambda t: t.start(), threads)
             map(lambda t: t.join(), threads)
         finally:
-            if six.PY2:
+            if check:
                 sys.setcheckinterval(original_interval)
             else:
                 sys.setswitchinterval(original_interval)
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_types.py b/tests/unit/test_types.py
index dc43eda1..4588b856 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_types.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_types.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ except ImportError:
 
 from binascii import unhexlify
 import datetime
+import six
 import time
 import cassandra
 from cassandra.cqltypes import (BooleanType, lookup_casstype_simple, lookup_casstype,
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ class TypeTests(unittest.TestCase):
 
             @classmethod
             def apply_parameters(cls, subtypes, names):
-                return cls(subtypes, [unhexlify(name) if name is not None else name for name in names])
+                return cls(subtypes, [unhexlify(six.b(name)) if name is not None else name for name in names])
 
         class BarType(FooType):
             typename = 'org.apache.cassandra.db.marshal.BarType'