diff --git a/pygit2/__init__.py b/pygit2/__init__.py
index df3a898..2dbda72 100644
--- a/pygit2/__init__.py
+++ b/pygit2/__init__.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ def _credentials_cb(cred_out, url, username_from_url, allowed, data):
     try:
         ccred = get_credentials(d['callback'], url, username_from_url, allowed)
         cred_out[0] = ccred[0]
-    except Exception, e:
+    except Exception as e:
         d['exception'] = e
         return C.GIT_EUSER
 
diff --git a/pygit2/ffi.py b/pygit2/ffi.py
index ce25ff0..10762b6 100644
--- a/pygit2/ffi.py
+++ b/pygit2/ffi.py
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
 import inspect
-from os import path
+import codecs
+from os import path, getenv
 from cffi import FFI
 import sys
 
@@ -51,10 +52,10 @@ else:
 
 if sys.version_info.major < 3:
     def is_string(s):
-        return isinstance(s, str)
+        return isinstance(s, basestring)
 else:
     def is_string(s):
-        return isinstance(s, basestring)
+        return isinstance(s, str)
 
 ffi = FFI()
 
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ def strings_to_strarray(l):
         if not is_string(l[i]):
             raise TypeError("Value must be a string")
 
-        s = ffi.new('char []', l[i])
+        s = ffi.new('char []', to_str(l[i]))
         refs[i] = s
         strings[i] = s
 
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ def strings_to_strarray(l):
 dir_path = path.dirname(path.abspath(inspect.getfile(inspect.currentframe())))
 
 decl_path = path.join(dir_path, 'decl.h')
-with open(decl_path, 'rb') as f:
-    ffi.cdef(f.read())
+with codecs.open(decl_path, 'r', 'utf-8') as header:
+        ffi.cdef(header.read())
 
 C = ffi.verify("#include <git2.h>", libraries=["git2"])
diff --git a/pygit2/remote.py b/pygit2/remote.py
index 40e6dda..07614d3 100644
--- a/pygit2/remote.py
+++ b/pygit2/remote.py
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ class Remote(object):
 
         try:
             self.transfer_progress(TransferProgress(stats_ptr))
-        except Exception, e:
+        except Exception as e:
             self._stored_exception = e
             return C.GIT_EUSER
 
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ class Remote(object):
         try:
             s = ffi.string(string, length).decode()
             self.progress(s)
-        except Exception, e:
+        except Exception as e:
             self._stored_exception = e
             return C.GIT_EUSER
 
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ class Remote(object):
             b = Oid(raw=bytes(ffi.buffer(b)))
 
             self.update_tips(s, a, b)
-        except Exception, e:
+        except Exception as e:
             self._stored_exception = e
             return C.GIT_EUSER
 
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ class Remote(object):
             ccred = get_credentials(self.credentials, url, username, allowed)
             cred_out[0] = ccred[0]
 
-        except Exception, e:
+        except Exception as e:
             self._stored_exception = e
             return C.GIT_EUSER