diff --git a/pecan/commands/base.py b/pecan/commands/base.py
index 5b6d7ee..85f40d4 100644
--- a/pecan/commands/base.py
+++ b/pecan/commands/base.py
@@ -102,7 +102,14 @@ class CommandRunner(object):
         return self.manager.commands
 
 
-class BaseCommand(object):
+class BaseCommandMeta(type):
+
+    @property
+    def summary(cls):
+        return cls.__doc__.strip().splitlines()[0].rstrip('.')
+
+
+class BaseCommandParent(object):
     """
     A base interface for Pecan commands.
 
@@ -130,11 +137,6 @@ class BaseCommand(object):
                 print(args.extra_arg)
     """
 
-    class __metaclass__(type):
-        @property
-        def summary(cls):
-            return cls.__doc__.strip().splitlines()[0].rstrip('.')
-
     arguments = ({
         'name': 'config_file',
         'help': 'a Pecan configuration file',
@@ -148,3 +150,5 @@ class BaseCommand(object):
     def load_app(self):
         from pecan import load_app
         return load_app(self.args.config_file)
+
+BaseCommand = BaseCommandMeta('BaseCommand', (BaseCommandParent,), {})
diff --git a/pecan/core.py b/pecan/core.py
index 8cd768b..864fed8 100644
--- a/pecan/core.py
+++ b/pecan/core.py
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ class Pecan(object):
             valid_args = valid_args[len(args):]
 
         # handle wildcard arguments
-        if filter(None, remainder):
+        if [i for i in remainder if i]:
             if not argspec[1]:
                 abort(404)
             args.extend(remainder)
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ class Pecan(object):
         # handle generic controllers
         im_self = None
         if cfg.get('generic'):
-            im_self = controller.im_self
+            im_self = six.get_method_self(controller)
             handlers = cfg['generic_handlers']
             controller = handlers.get(req.method, handlers['DEFAULT'])
             cfg = _cfg(controller)
@@ -533,8 +533,14 @@ class Pecan(object):
             testing_variables['controller_output'] = result
 
         # set the body content
-        if isinstance(result, unicode):
-            resp.unicode_body = result
+        if six.PY3:
+            resp.text = result if isinstance(result, str) else str(
+                result,
+                'utf-8',
+                'strict'
+            )
+        elif isinstance(result, six.text_type):
+            resp.text = result
         else:
             resp.body = result
 
diff --git a/pecan/middleware/errordocument.py b/pecan/middleware/errordocument.py
index 2559c9c..82b2590 100644
--- a/pecan/middleware/errordocument.py
+++ b/pecan/middleware/errordocument.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import sys
 
+from pecan.compat import bytes_
 from .recursive import ForwardRequestException, RecursionLoop
 
 
@@ -31,9 +32,9 @@ class StatusPersist(object):
                 [('Content-type', 'text/plain')],
                 sys.exc_info()
             )
-            return [
+            return [bytes_(
                 'Error: %s.  (Error page could not be fetched)' % self.status
-            ]
+            )]
 
 
 class ErrorDocumentMiddleware(object):
diff --git a/pecan/middleware/static.py b/pecan/middleware/static.py
index c68bce7..a05a7f8 100644
--- a/pecan/middleware/static.py
+++ b/pecan/middleware/static.py
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ import mimetypes
 from datetime import datetime
 from time import gmtime
 
+import six
+
 
 class FileWrapper(object):
     """This class can be used to convert a :class:`file`-like object into
@@ -42,6 +44,10 @@ class FileWrapper(object):
         raise StopIteration()
 
 
+if six.PY3:
+    FileWrapper.__next__ = FileWrapper.next
+
+
 def wrap_file(environ, file, buffer_size=8192):
     """Wraps a file.  This uses the WSGI server's file wrapper if available
     or otherwise the generic :class:`FileWrapper`.
@@ -64,7 +70,7 @@ def _dump_date(d, delim):
         d = gmtime()
     elif isinstance(d, datetime):
         d = d.utctimetuple()
-    elif isinstance(d, (int, long, float)):
+    elif isinstance(d, (int, float)):
         d = gmtime(d)
     return '%s, %02d%s%s%s%s %02d:%02d:%02d GMT' % (
         ('Mon', 'Tue', 'Wed', 'Thu', 'Fri', 'Sat', 'Sun')[d.tm_wday],
diff --git a/pecan/tests/test_scaffolds.py b/pecan/tests/test_scaffolds.py
index 23d6e81..669aa7d 100644
--- a/pecan/tests/test_scaffolds.py
+++ b/pecan/tests/test_scaffolds.py
@@ -95,7 +95,6 @@ class TestScaffoldUtils(PecanTestCase):
 
     def test_destination_directory_already_exists(self):
         from pecan.scaffolds import copy_dir
-        from cStringIO import StringIO
         f = StringIO()
         copy_dir(
             (