diff --git a/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/55-heat-config b/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/55-heat-config
index 9cc0df15c5..4dd96b448e 100755
--- a/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/55-heat-config
+++ b/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/55-heat-config
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import os
 import shutil
 import stat
 import subprocess
+import six
 import sys
 
 import requests
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@ def invoke_hook(c, log):
     hot_inputs = c.get('inputs', [])
     for hot_input in hot_inputs:
         if hot_input.get('type', None) == 'String' and \
-                not isinstance(hot_input['value'], basestring):
+                not isinstance(hot_input['value'], six.string_types):
             hot_input['value'] = str(hot_input['value'])
     iv = dict((i['name'], i['value']) for i in c['inputs'])
     # The group property indicates whether it is softwarecomponent or
@@ -145,7 +146,8 @@ def invoke_hook(c, log):
                                stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
                                stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                                stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-    stdout, stderr = subproc.communicate(input=json.dumps(c))
+    stdout, stderr = subproc.communicate(
+        input=json.dumps(c).encode('utf-8', 'replace'))
 
     log.info(stdout)
     log.debug(stderr)
@@ -158,7 +160,7 @@ def invoke_hook(c, log):
 
     try:
         if stdout:
-            signal_data = json.loads(stdout)
+            signal_data = json.loads(stdout.decode('utf-8', 'replace'))
     except ValueError:
         signal_data = {
             'deploy_stdout': stdout,
@@ -178,7 +180,8 @@ def invoke_hook(c, log):
                                stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
                                stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                                stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-    stdout, stderr = subproc.communicate(input=json.dumps(signal_data))
+    stdout, stderr = subproc.communicate(
+        input=json.dumps(signal_data).encode('utf-8', 'replace'))
 
     log.info(stdout)
 
diff --git a/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/heat-config-notify b/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/heat-config-notify
index f26a6ced22..9eb5c7509a 100755
--- a/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/heat-config-notify
+++ b/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/heat-config-notify
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ def trim_response(response, trimmed_values=None):
     """
 
     trimmed_values = trimmed_values or ('deploy_stdout', 'deploy_stderr')
-    str_response = json.dumps(response, ensure_ascii=True, encoding='utf-8')
+    str_response = json.dumps(response, ensure_ascii=True)
     len_total = len(str_response)
     offset = MAX_RESPONSE_SIZE - len_total
     if offset >= 0:
diff --git a/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/hooks/atomic b/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/hooks/atomic
index bba5e4f3f0..46aac9e712 100755
--- a/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/hooks/atomic
+++ b/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/hooks/atomic
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ def prepare_dir(path):
 
 def build_response(deploy_stdout, deploy_stderr, deploy_status_code):
     return {
-        'deploy_stdout': deploy_stdout,
-        'deploy_stderr': deploy_stderr,
+        'deploy_stdout': deploy_stdout.decode('utf-8', 'replace'),
+        'deploy_stderr': deploy_stderr.decode('utf-8', 'replace'),
         'deploy_status_code': deploy_status_code,
     }
 
diff --git a/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/hooks/docker-compose b/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/hooks/docker-compose
index 41219efb16..2577507712 100755
--- a/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/hooks/docker-compose
+++ b/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/hooks/docker-compose
@@ -38,13 +38,13 @@ def write_input_file(file_path, content):
     prepare_dir(os.path.dirname(file_path))
     with os.fdopen(os.open(
             file_path, os.O_CREAT | os.O_WRONLY, 0o600), 'w') as f:
-        f.write(content.encode('utf-8'))
+        f.write(content)
 
 
 def build_response(deploy_stdout, deploy_stderr, deploy_status_code):
     return {
-        'deploy_stdout': deploy_stdout,
-        'deploy_stderr': deploy_stderr,
+        'deploy_stdout': deploy_stdout.decode('utf-8', 'replace'),
+        'deploy_stderr': deploy_stderr.decode('utf-8', 'replace'),
         'deploy_status_code': deploy_status_code,
     }
 
diff --git a/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/hooks/script b/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/hooks/script
index 5c9cb4dc00..5760619937 100755
--- a/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/hooks/script
+++ b/dockerfiles/heat-container-agent/scripts/hooks/script
@@ -59,15 +59,15 @@ def main(argv=sys.argv):
     env['heat_outputs_path'] = heat_outputs_path
 
     with os.fdopen(os.open(fn, os.O_CREAT | os.O_WRONLY, 0o700), 'w') as f:
-        f.write(c.get('config', '').encode('utf-8'))
+        f.write(c.get('config', ''))
 
     log.debug('Running %s' % fn)
     subproc = subprocess.Popen([fn], stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                                stderr=subprocess.PIPE, env=env)
     stdout, stderr = subproc.communicate()
 
-    log.info(stdout)
-    log.debug(stderr)
+    log.info(stdout.decode('utf-8', 'replace'))
+    log.debug(stderr.decode('utf-8', 'replace'))
 
     if subproc.returncode:
         log.error("Error running %s. [%s]\n" % (fn, subproc.returncode))
@@ -85,8 +85,8 @@ def main(argv=sys.argv):
             pass
 
     response.update({
-        'deploy_stdout': stdout,
-        'deploy_stderr': stderr,
+        'deploy_stdout': stdout.decode('utf-8', 'replace'),
+        'deploy_stderr': stderr.decode('utf-8', 'replace'),
         'deploy_status_code': subproc.returncode,
     })