diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/storage/test_rbd.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/storage/test_rbd.py
index 70c5556049fb..4cb2488a530f 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/storage/test_rbd.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/storage/test_rbd.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 from eventlet import tpool
 import mock
+import six
 
 from nova.compute import task_states
 from nova import exception
@@ -52,6 +53,10 @@ CEPH_MON_DUMP = """dumped monmap epoch 1
 """
 
 
+class FakeException(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
 class RbdTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
 
     @mock.patch.object(rbd_utils, 'rbd')
@@ -198,6 +203,8 @@ class RbdTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
     @mock.patch.object(rbd_utils, 'rbd')
     @mock.patch.object(rbd_utils, 'rados')
     def test_clone(self, mock_rados, mock_rbd, mock_client):
+        mock_rbd.ImageBusy = FakeException
+        mock_rbd.ImageHasSnapshots = FakeException
         pool = u'images'
         image = u'image-name'
         snap = u'snapshot-name'
@@ -219,7 +226,7 @@ class RbdTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
 
         self.driver.clone(location, self.volume_name)
 
-        args = [client_stack[0].ioctx, str(image), str(snap),
+        args = [client_stack[0].ioctx, six.b(image), six.b(snap),
                 client_stack[1].ioctx, str(self.volume_name)]
         kwargs = {'features': client.features}
         rbd.clone.assert_called_once_with(*args, **kwargs)
@@ -339,6 +346,8 @@ class RbdTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
     @mock.patch.object(rbd_utils, 'rados')
     @mock.patch.object(rbd_utils, 'RADOSClient')
     def test_cleanup_volumes(self, mock_client, mock_rados, mock_rbd):
+        mock_rbd.ImageBusy = FakeException
+        mock_rbd.ImageHasSnapshots = FakeException
         instance = objects.Instance(id=1, uuid=uuids.instance,
                                     task_state=None)
         # this is duplicated from nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
@@ -360,6 +369,8 @@ class RbdTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
     @mock.patch.object(rbd_utils, 'RADOSClient')
     def _test_cleanup_exception(self, exception_name,
                                 mock_client, mock_rados, mock_rbd):
+        mock_rbd.ImageBusy = FakeException
+        mock_rbd.ImageHasSnapshots = FakeException
         instance = objects.Instance(id=1, uuid=uuids.instance,
                                     task_state=None)
         # this is duplicated from nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
@@ -393,6 +404,8 @@ class RbdTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
     @mock.patch.object(rbd_utils, 'RBDVolumeProxy')
     def test_cleanup_volumes_pending_resize(self, mock_proxy, mock_client,
                                             mock_rados, mock_rbd):
+        mock_rbd.ImageBusy = FakeException
+        mock_rbd.ImageHasSnapshots = FakeException
         instance = objects.Instance(id=1, uuid=uuids.instance,
                                     task_state=None)
         # this is duplicated from nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
@@ -421,6 +434,8 @@ class RbdTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
     @mock.patch.object(rbd_utils, 'RADOSClient')
     def test_cleanup_volumes_reverting_resize(self, mock_client, mock_rados,
                                        mock_rbd):
+        mock_rbd.ImageBusy = FakeException
+        mock_rbd.ImageHasSnapshots = FakeException
         instance = objects.Instance(id=1, uuid=uuids.instance,
                                     task_state=task_states.RESIZE_REVERTING)
         # this is duplicated from nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
@@ -443,6 +458,8 @@ class RbdTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
     @mock.patch.object(rbd_utils, 'rados')
     @mock.patch.object(rbd_utils, 'RADOSClient')
     def test_destroy_volume(self, mock_client, mock_rados, mock_rbd):
+        mock_rbd.ImageBusy = FakeException
+        mock_rbd.ImageHasSnapshots = FakeException
         rbd = mock_rbd.RBD.return_value
         vol = '12345_test'
         client = mock_client.return_value
diff --git a/nova/virt/libvirt/storage/rbd_utils.py b/nova/virt/libvirt/storage/rbd_utils.py
index 9eddc95d451d..8388f0e24aac 100644
--- a/nova/virt/libvirt/storage/rbd_utils.py
+++ b/nova/virt/libvirt/storage/rbd_utils.py
@@ -121,11 +121,11 @@ class RADOSClient(object):
 class RBDDriver(object):
 
     def __init__(self, pool, ceph_conf, rbd_user):
-        self.pool = pool.encode('utf8')
+        self.pool = pool
         # NOTE(angdraug): rados.Rados fails to connect if ceph_conf is None:
         # https://github.com/ceph/ceph/pull/1787
-        self.ceph_conf = ceph_conf.encode('utf8') if ceph_conf else ''
-        self.rbd_user = rbd_user.encode('utf8') if rbd_user else None
+        self.ceph_conf = ceph_conf or ''
+        self.rbd_user = rbd_user or None
         if rbd is None:
             raise RuntimeError(_('rbd python libraries not found'))
 
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ class RBDDriver(object):
         try:
             client.connect()
             pool_to_open = pool or self.pool
-            ioctx = client.open_ioctx(pool_to_open.encode('utf-8'))
+            ioctx = client.open_ioctx(pool_to_open)
             return client, ioctx
         except rados.Error:
             # shutdown cannot raise an exception
diff --git a/tests-py3.txt b/tests-py3.txt
index 72d2bf477e99..24d2319d80d1 100644
--- a/tests-py3.txt
+++ b/tests-py3.txt
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ nova.tests.unit.compute.test_host_api.ComputeHostAPICellsTestCase
 nova.tests.unit.network.test_manager.LdapDNSTestCase
 nova.tests.unit.test_matchers.TestDictMatches.test__str__
 nova.tests.unit.test_wsgi.TestWSGIServerWithSSL
-nova.tests.unit.virt.libvirt.storage.test_rbd.RbdTestCase
 nova.tests.unit.virt.libvirt.test_firewall.IptablesFirewallTestCase
 nova.tests.unit.virt.libvirt.test_imagebackend.EncryptedLvmTestCase
 nova.tests.unit.virt.libvirt.test_imagebackend.LvmTestCase