diff --git a/nodepool/driver/__init__.py b/nodepool/driver/__init__.py
index d47ff78ed..1f20e8484 100644
--- a/nodepool/driver/__init__.py
+++ b/nodepool/driver/__init__.py
@@ -25,8 +25,6 @@ import os
 import time
 import threading
 
-import six
-
 from kazoo import exceptions as kze
 
 from nodepool import zk
@@ -107,8 +105,7 @@ class Drivers:
             raise RuntimeError("%s: unknown driver" % name)
 
 
-@six.add_metaclass(abc.ABCMeta)
-class Provider(object):
+class Provider(object, metaclass=abc.ABCMeta):
     """The Provider interface
 
     The class or instance attribute **name** must be provided as a string.
@@ -147,8 +144,7 @@ class Provider(object):
         pass
 
 
-@six.add_metaclass(abc.ABCMeta)
-class NodeRequestHandler(object):
+class NodeRequestHandler(object, metaclass=abc.ABCMeta):
     '''
     Class to process a single nodeset request.
 
@@ -707,8 +703,7 @@ class Driver(ConfigValue):
     pass
 
 
-@six.add_metaclass(abc.ABCMeta)
-class ProviderConfig(ConfigValue):
+class ProviderConfig(ConfigValue, metaclass=abc.ABCMeta):
     """The Provider config interface
 
     The class or instance attribute **name** must be provided as a string.
diff --git a/nodepool/task_manager.py b/nodepool/task_manager.py
index 95c493bea..0453d167f 100644
--- a/nodepool/task_manager.py
+++ b/nodepool/task_manager.py
@@ -18,9 +18,8 @@
 
 import sys
 import threading
-import six
-from six.moves import queue as Queue
 import logging
+import queue
 import time
 import requests.exceptions
 
@@ -51,7 +50,7 @@ class Task(object):
     def wait(self):
         self._wait_event.wait()
         if self._exception:
-            six.reraise(self._exception, None, self._traceback)
+            raise self._exception.with_traceback(self._traceback)
         return self._result
 
     def run(self, client):
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ class TaskManager(threading.Thread):
     def __init__(self, client, name, rate):
         super(TaskManager, self).__init__(name=name)
         self.daemon = True
-        self.queue = Queue.Queue()
+        self.queue = queue.Queue()
         self._running = True
         self.name = name
         self.rate = float(rate)
diff --git a/nodepool/tests/test_webapp.py b/nodepool/tests/test_webapp.py
index dcd2ab6d0..d45c9cf8a 100644
--- a/nodepool/tests/test_webapp.py
+++ b/nodepool/tests/test_webapp.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 import json
 import logging
 import yaml
-from six.moves.urllib import request
+from urllib import request
 
 from nodepool import tests
 from nodepool import zk
diff --git a/nodepool/zk.py b/nodepool/zk.py
index beb90e7f2..19e6078ba 100755
--- a/nodepool/zk.py
+++ b/nodepool/zk.py
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ from copy import copy
 import abc
 import json
 import logging
-import six
 import time
 from kazoo.client import KazooClient, KazooState
 from kazoo import exceptions as kze
@@ -204,7 +203,7 @@ class BaseModel(Serializable):
 
     @id.setter
     def id(self, value):
-        if not isinstance(value, six.string_types):
+        if not isinstance(value, str):
             raise TypeError("'id' attribute must be a string type")
         self._id = value
 
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 74799ccfc..156589828 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@ extras
 statsd>=3.0
 sqlalchemy>=0.8.2,<1.1.0
 PrettyTable>=0.6,<0.8
-# shade has a looser requirement on six than nodepool, so install six first
-six>=1.7.0
 os-client-config>=1.2.0
 shade>=1.21.0
 diskimage-builder>=2.0.0