diff --git a/falcon/response.py b/falcon/response.py
index 4680433..6ff027d 100644
--- a/falcon/response.py
+++ b/falcon/response.py
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ class Response(object):
         if not is_ascii_encodable(value):
             raise ValueError('"value" is not ascii encodable')
 
-        if PY2:  # pragma: no cover
+        if PY2:
             name = str(name)
             value = str(value)
 
@@ -576,7 +576,7 @@ class Response(object):
         if set_content_type:
             headers['content-type'] = media_type
 
-        if py2:  # pragma: no cover
+        if py2:
             # PERF(kgriffs): Don't create an extra list object if
             # it isn't needed.
             items = headers.items()
diff --git a/falcon/response_helpers.py b/falcon/response_helpers.py
index c99bc72..c942ff2 100644
--- a/falcon/response_helpers.py
+++ b/falcon/response_helpers.py
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ def format_range(value):
     return 'bytes %s-%s/%s' % (value[0], value[1], value[2])
 
 
-def is_ascii_encodable(s):  # pragma: no cover
+def is_ascii_encodable(s):
     """Check if argument encodes to ascii without error."""
     try:
         s.encode("ascii")
diff --git a/tests/test_cookies.py b/tests/test_cookies.py
index 5575120..b8604c9 100644
--- a/tests/test_cookies.py
+++ b/tests/test_cookies.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import re
 import sys
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta, tzinfo
 
+import ddt
 from six.moves.http_cookies import Morsel
 from testtools.matchers import LessThan
 
@@ -10,6 +11,9 @@ import falcon.testing as testing
 from falcon.util import TimezoneGMT, http_date_to_dt
 
 
+UNICODE_TEST_STRING = u"Unicode_\xc3\xa6\xc3\xb8"
+
+
 class TimezoneGMTPlus1(tzinfo):
 
     def utcoffset(self, dt):
@@ -46,6 +50,7 @@ class CookieResource:
         resp.unset_cookie("bad")
 
 
+@ddt.ddt
 class TestCookies(testing.TestBase):
 
     #
@@ -163,26 +168,36 @@ class TestCookies(testing.TestBase):
 
     def test_unicode_inside_ascii_range(self):
         resp = falcon.Response()
+
         # should be ok
         resp.set_cookie("non_unicode_ascii_name_1", "ascii_value")
         resp.set_cookie(u"unicode_ascii_name_1", "ascii_value")
         resp.set_cookie("non_unicode_ascii_name_2", u"unicode_ascii_value")
         resp.set_cookie(u"unicode_ascii_name_2", u"unicode_ascii_value")
 
-    def test_unicode_outside_ascii_range(self):
-        def set_bad_cookie_name():
-            resp = falcon.Response()
-            resp.set_cookie(u"unicode_\xc3\xa6\xc3\xb8", "ok_value")
-        self.assertRaises(KeyError, set_bad_cookie_name)
+    @ddt.data(
+        UNICODE_TEST_STRING,
+        UNICODE_TEST_STRING.encode('utf-8'),
+        42
+    )
+    def test_non_ascii_name(self, name):
+        resp = falcon.Response()
+        self.assertRaises(KeyError, resp.set_cookie,
+                          name, "ok_value")
+
+    @ddt.data(
+        UNICODE_TEST_STRING,
+        UNICODE_TEST_STRING.encode('utf-8'),
+        42
+    )
+    def test_non_ascii_value(self, value):
+        resp = falcon.Response()
 
-        def set_bad_cookie_value():
-            resp = falcon.Response()
-            resp.set_cookie("ok_name", u"unicode_\xc3\xa6\xc3\xb8")
         # NOTE(tbug): we need to grab the exception to check
         # that it is not instance of UnicodeEncodeError, so
         # we cannot simply use assertRaises
         try:
-            set_bad_cookie_value()
+            resp.set_cookie("ok_name", value)
         except ValueError as e:
             self.assertIsInstance(e, ValueError)
             self.assertNotIsInstance(e, UnicodeEncodeError)