diff --git a/test/unit/common/test_daemon.py b/test/unit/common/test_daemon.py
index 6f37066a6e..078f84aebb 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/test_daemon.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/test_daemon.py
@@ -109,8 +109,8 @@ class TestRunDaemon(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         for patcher in [
-            mock.patch.object(utils, 'HASH_PATH_PREFIX', 'startcap'),
-            mock.patch.object(utils, 'HASH_PATH_SUFFIX', 'endcap'),
+            mock.patch.object(utils, 'HASH_PATH_PREFIX', b'startcap'),
+            mock.patch.object(utils, 'HASH_PATH_SUFFIX', b'endcap'),
             mock.patch.object(utils, 'drop_privileges', lambda *args: None),
             mock.patch.object(utils, 'capture_stdio', lambda *args: None),
         ]:
diff --git a/test/unit/common/test_internal_client.py b/test/unit/common/test_internal_client.py
index 99adfe6ac6..22f88f25ac 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/test_internal_client.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/test_internal_client.py
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ class TestCompressingfileReader(unittest.TestCase):
 
 class TestInternalClient(unittest.TestCase):
 
-    @mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX', new='endcap')
+    @mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX', new=b'endcap')
     @with_tempdir
     def test_load_from_config(self, tempdir):
         conf_path = os.path.join(tempdir, 'interal_client.conf')
diff --git a/test/unit/common/test_wsgi.py b/test/unit/common/test_wsgi.py
index 2a840be5f0..2ce8ab664a 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/test_wsgi.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/test_wsgi.py
@@ -70,7 +70,6 @@ class TestWSGI(unittest.TestCase):
     """Tests for swift.common.wsgi"""
 
     def setUp(self):
-        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = 'startcap'
         if six.PY2:
             self._orig_parsetype = mimetools.Message.parsetype
 
@@ -1818,7 +1817,6 @@ class TestPipelineWrapper(unittest.TestCase):
 
 
 @patch_policies
-@mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX', new='endcap')
 class TestPipelineModification(unittest.TestCase):
     def pipeline_modules(self, app):
         # This is rather brittle; it'll break if a middleware stores its app
diff --git a/test/unit/container/test_sync.py b/test/unit/container/test_sync.py
index 5c4cc8670a..4fb42fa210 100644
--- a/test/unit/container/test_sync.py
+++ b/test/unit/container/test_sync.py
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ from swift.common.storage_policy import StoragePolicy
 import test
 from test.unit import patch_policies, with_tempdir
 
-utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = 'endcap'
-utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = 'endcap'
+utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = b'endcap'
+utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = b'endcap'
 
 
 class FakeRing(object):
diff --git a/test/unit/container/test_updater.py b/test/unit/container/test_updater.py
index 4841c57db6..c8150f5fe8 100644
--- a/test/unit/container/test_updater.py
+++ b/test/unit/container/test_updater.py
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ from test import listen_zero
 class TestContainerUpdater(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = 'endcap'
-        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = 'startcap'
+        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = b'endcap'
+        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = b'startcap'
         self.testdir = os.path.join(mkdtemp(), 'tmp_test_container_updater')
         rmtree(self.testdir, ignore_errors=1)
         os.mkdir(self.testdir)
diff --git a/test/unit/obj/test_diskfile.py b/test/unit/obj/test_diskfile.py
index e4ad4c0e7a..161e85a8cc 100644
--- a/test/unit/obj/test_diskfile.py
+++ b/test/unit/obj/test_diskfile.py
@@ -147,8 +147,8 @@ class TestDiskFileModuleMethods(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         skip_if_no_xattrs()
-        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = 'endcap'
-        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = ''
+        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = b'endcap'
+        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = b''
         # Setup a test ring per policy (stolen from common/test_ring.py)
         self.testdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
         self.devices = os.path.join(self.testdir, 'node')
diff --git a/test/unit/obj/test_reconstructor.py b/test/unit/obj/test_reconstructor.py
index 4e664c23c1..6c067a3d44 100644
--- a/test/unit/obj/test_reconstructor.py
+++ b/test/unit/obj/test_reconstructor.py
@@ -154,8 +154,8 @@ class TestGlobalSetupObjectReconstructor(unittest.TestCase):
         _create_test_rings(self.testdir)
         POLICIES[0].object_ring = ring.Ring(self.testdir, ring_name='object')
         POLICIES[1].object_ring = ring.Ring(self.testdir, ring_name='object-1')
-        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = 'endcap'
-        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = ''
+        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = b'endcap'
+        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = b''
         self.devices = os.path.join(self.testdir, 'node')
         os.makedirs(self.devices)
         os.mkdir(os.path.join(self.devices, 'sda1'))
diff --git a/test/unit/obj/test_replicator.py b/test/unit/obj/test_replicator.py
index e54cc94c95..acc664aab3 100644
--- a/test/unit/obj/test_replicator.py
+++ b/test/unit/obj/test_replicator.py
@@ -224,8 +224,8 @@ class TestObjectReplicator(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         skip_if_no_xattrs()
-        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = 'endcap'
-        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = ''
+        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = b'endcap'
+        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = b''
         # recon cache path
         self.recon_cache = tempfile.mkdtemp()
         rmtree(self.recon_cache, ignore_errors=1)
diff --git a/test/unit/obj/test_server.py b/test/unit/obj/test_server.py
index e3e0d66dce..f3ac45c619 100644
--- a/test/unit/obj/test_server.py
+++ b/test/unit/obj/test_server.py
@@ -139,8 +139,8 @@ class TestObjectController(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         """Set up for testing swift.object.server.ObjectController"""
         skip_if_no_xattrs()
-        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = 'endcap'
-        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = 'startcap'
+        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = b'endcap'
+        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = b'startcap'
         self.tmpdir = mkdtemp()
         self.testdir = os.path.join(self.tmpdir,
                                     'tmp_test_object_server_ObjectController')
@@ -958,7 +958,7 @@ class TestObjectController(unittest.TestCase):
                             headers=put_headers, body='test')
 
         with mock.patch('swift.obj.server.http_connect', fake_http_connect), \
-                mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX', ''), \
+                mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX', b''), \
                 fake_spawn():
             resp = req.get_response(self.object_controller)
 
@@ -1002,7 +1002,7 @@ class TestObjectController(unittest.TestCase):
                             headers=post_headers)
 
         with mock.patch('swift.obj.server.http_connect', fake_http_connect), \
-                mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX', ''), \
+                mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX', b''), \
                 fake_spawn():
             resp = req.get_response(self.object_controller)
 
@@ -1112,7 +1112,7 @@ class TestObjectController(unittest.TestCase):
                         'X-Backend-Redirect-Timestamp': next(self.ts).internal}
 
         with mocked_http_conn(301, headers=[resp_headers]) as conn, \
-                mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX', ''),\
+                mock.patch('swift.common.utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX', b''),\
                 fake_spawn():
             resp = req.get_response(self.object_controller)
 
@@ -5088,7 +5088,7 @@ class TestObjectController(unittest.TestCase):
         policy = random.choice(list(POLICIES))
         self._stage_tmp_dir(policy)
         _prefix = utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX
-        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = ''
+        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = b''
 
         def fake_http_connect(*args):
             raise Exception('test')
@@ -5119,7 +5119,7 @@ class TestObjectController(unittest.TestCase):
         policy = random.choice(list(POLICIES))
         self._stage_tmp_dir(policy)
         _prefix = utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX
-        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = ''
+        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = b''
 
         def fake_http_connect(status):
 
@@ -5164,7 +5164,7 @@ class TestObjectController(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_async_update_does_not_save_on_2xx(self):
         _prefix = utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX
-        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = ''
+        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = b''
 
         def fake_http_connect(status):
 
@@ -5200,7 +5200,7 @@ class TestObjectController(unittest.TestCase):
         policy = random.choice(list(POLICIES))
         self._stage_tmp_dir(policy)
         _prefix = utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX
-        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = ''
+        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = b''
 
         def fake_http_connect():
 
diff --git a/test/unit/obj/test_ssync_receiver.py b/test/unit/obj/test_ssync_receiver.py
index 9ad5b619dd..88ad9bfe19 100644
--- a/test/unit/obj/test_ssync_receiver.py
+++ b/test/unit/obj/test_ssync_receiver.py
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ class TestReceiver(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         skip_if_no_xattrs()
-        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = 'endcap'
-        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = 'startcap'
+        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = b'endcap'
+        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = b'startcap'
         # Not sure why the test.unit stuff isn't taking effect here; so I'm
         # reinforcing it.
         self.testdir = os.path.join(
diff --git a/test/unit/obj/test_updater.py b/test/unit/obj/test_updater.py
index 5ee6d9bc13..511bcb0b37 100644
--- a/test/unit/obj/test_updater.py
+++ b/test/unit/obj/test_updater.py
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ _mocked_policies = [StoragePolicy(0, 'zero', False),
 class TestObjectUpdater(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = 'endcap'
-        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = ''
+        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = b'endcap'
+        utils.HASH_PATH_PREFIX = b''
         self.testdir = mkdtemp()
         ring_file = os.path.join(self.testdir, 'container.ring.gz')
         with closing(GzipFile(ring_file, 'wb')) as f:
diff --git a/test/unit/proxy/test_server.py b/test/unit/proxy/test_server.py
index 22b312fbbe..bcc5a5bed1 100644
--- a/test/unit/proxy/test_server.py
+++ b/test/unit/proxy/test_server.py
@@ -1223,7 +1223,7 @@ class TestProxyServerLoading(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         self._orig_hash_suffix = utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX
-        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = 'endcap'
+        utils.HASH_PATH_SUFFIX = b'endcap'
         self.tempdir = mkdtemp()
 
     def tearDown(self):