diff --git a/evennia/__init__.py b/evennia/__init__.py
index 92026cb1ec..682749ab5a 100644
--- a/evennia/__init__.py
+++ b/evennia/__init__.py
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ See www.evennia.com for full documentation.
 """
 
 
-from builtins import object
 
 # Delayed loading of properties
 
@@ -104,7 +103,10 @@ def _create_version():
     except IOError as err:
         print(err)
     try:
-        version = "%s (rev %s)" % (version, check_output("git rev-parse --short HEAD", shell=True, cwd=root, stderr=STDOUT).strip())
+        rev = check_output(
+            "git rev-parse --short HEAD",
+            shell=True, cwd=root, stderr=STDOUT).strip().decode()
+        version = "%s (rev %s)" % (version, rev)
     except (IOError, CalledProcessError):
         # ignore if we cannot get to git
         pass
@@ -314,8 +316,3 @@ def _init():
     syscmdkeys = SystemCmds()
     del SystemCmds
     del _EvContainer
-
-
-del object
-del absolute_import
-del print_function
diff --git a/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py b/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
index 559b9358bf..f96001fc06 100644
--- a/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
+++ b/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ def evennia_version():
     try:
         rev = check_output(
             "git rev-parse --short HEAD",
-            shell=True, cwd=EVENNIA_ROOT, stderr=STDOUT).strip()
+            shell=True, cwd=EVENNIA_ROOT, stderr=STDOUT).strip().decode()
         version = "%s (rev %s)" % (version, rev)
     except (IOError, CalledProcessError):
         # move on if git is not answering
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ def create_secret_key():
     """
     import random
     import string
-    secret_key = list((string.letters +
+    secret_key = list((string.ascii_letters +
                        string.digits + string.punctuation).replace("\\", "")
                       .replace("'", '"').replace("{", "_").replace("}", "-"))
     random.shuffle(secret_key)