diff --git a/cinderclient/shell.py b/cinderclient/shell.py
index 9750d2f79..d7377b196 100644
--- a/cinderclient/shell.py
+++ b/cinderclient/shell.py
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ import pkgutil
 import sys
 import logging
 
+import six
+
 from cinderclient import client
 from cinderclient import exceptions as exc
 import cinderclient.extension
@@ -500,14 +502,18 @@ class OpenStackHelpFormatter(argparse.HelpFormatter):
 
 def main():
     try:
-        OpenStackCinderShell().main(map(strutils.safe_decode, sys.argv[1:]))
+        if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):
+            OpenStackCinderShell().main(sys.argv[1:])
+        else:
+            OpenStackCinderShell().main(map(strutils.safe_decode,
+                                        sys.argv[1:]))
     except KeyboardInterrupt:
         print("... terminating cinder client", file=sys.stderr)
         sys.exit(130)
     except Exception as e:
         logger.debug(e, exc_info=1)
         message = e.message
-        if not isinstance(message, basestring):
+        if not isinstance(message, six.string_types):
             message = str(message)
         print("ERROR: %s" % strutils.safe_encode(message), file=sys.stderr)
         sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/cinderclient/utils.py b/cinderclient/utils.py
index fe947a020..922f053e9 100644
--- a/cinderclient/utils.py
+++ b/cinderclient/utils.py
@@ -142,7 +142,14 @@ def pretty_choice_list(l):
     return ', '.join("'%s'" % i for i in l)
 
 
-def print_list(objs, fields, formatters={}):
+def _print(pt, order):
+    if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):
+        print(pt.get_string(sortby=order))
+    else:
+        print(strutils.safe_encode(pt.get_string(sortby=order)))
+
+
+def print_list(objs, fields, formatters={}, order_by=None):
     mixed_case_fields = ['serverId']
     pt = prettytable.PrettyTable([f for f in fields], caching=False)
     pt.aligns = ['l' for f in fields]
@@ -161,15 +168,16 @@ def print_list(objs, fields, formatters={}):
                 row.append(data)
         pt.add_row(row)
 
-    if len(pt._rows) > 0:
-        print(strutils.safe_encode(pt.get_string(sortby=fields[0])))
+    if order_by is None:
+        order_by = fields[0]
+    _print(pt, order_by)
 
 
 def print_dict(d, property="Property"):
     pt = prettytable.PrettyTable([property, 'Value'], caching=False)
     pt.aligns = ['l', 'l']
     [pt.add_row(list(r)) for r in six.iteritems(d)]
-    print(strutils.safe_encode(pt.get_string(sortby=property)))
+    _print(pt, property)
 
 
 def find_resource(manager, name_or_id):
@@ -181,9 +189,12 @@ def find_resource(manager, name_or_id):
     except exceptions.NotFound:
         pass
 
+    if sys.version_info <= (3, 0):
+        name_or_id = strutils.safe_decode(name_or_id)
+
     # now try to get entity as uuid
     try:
-        uuid.UUID(strutils.safe_decode(name_or_id))
+        uuid.UUID(name_or_id)
         return manager.get(name_or_id)
     except (ValueError, exceptions.NotFound):
         pass
@@ -277,7 +288,7 @@ def slugify(value):
     From Django's "django/template/defaultfilters.py".
     """
     import unicodedata
-    if not isinstance(value, unicode):
+    if not isinstance(value, six.text_type):
         value = six.text_type(value)
     value = unicodedata.normalize('NFKD', value).encode('ascii', 'ignore')
     value = six.text_type(_slugify_strip_re.sub('', value).strip().lower())
diff --git a/cinderclient/v2/shell.py b/cinderclient/v2/shell.py
index d692fa2e9..b4a5dbd6d 100644
--- a/cinderclient/v2/shell.py
+++ b/cinderclient/v2/shell.py
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ import os
 import sys
 import time
 
+import six
+
 from cinderclient import exceptions
 from cinderclient import utils
 
@@ -258,7 +260,7 @@ def do_create(cs, args):
             # NOTE(vish): multiple copies of the same hint will
             #             result in a list of values
             if key in hints:
-                if isinstance(hints[key], basestring):
+                if isinstance(hints[key], six.string_types):
                     hints[key] = [hints[key]]
                 hints[key] += [value]
             else: