diff --git a/Lib/multiprocessing/connection.py b/Lib/multiprocessing/connection.py
index 27c44cd..8493ac0 100644
--- a/Lib/multiprocessing/connection.py
+++ b/Lib/multiprocessing/connection.py
@@ -352,14 +352,9 @@
 
 MESSAGE_LENGTH = 20
 
-CHALLENGE = '#CHALLENGE#'
-WELCOME = '#WELCOME#'
-FAILURE = '#FAILURE#'
-
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):         # XXX can use bytes literals in 2.6/3.0
-    CHALLENGE = CHALLENGE.encode('ascii')
-    WELCOME = WELCOME.encode('ascii')
-    FAILURE = FAILURE.encode('ascii')
+CHALLENGE = b'#CHALLENGE#'
+WELCOME = b'#WELCOME#'
+FAILURE = b'#FAILURE#'
 
 def deliver_challenge(connection, authkey):
     import hmac
diff --git a/Lib/multiprocessing/managers.py b/Lib/multiprocessing/managers.py
index b08b607..e4d1688 100644
--- a/Lib/multiprocessing/managers.py
+++ b/Lib/multiprocessing/managers.py
@@ -33,15 +33,6 @@
     from pickle import PicklingError
 
 #
-#
-#
-
-try:
-    bytes
-except NameError:
-    bytes = str                  # XXX not needed in Py2.6 and Py3.0
-
-#
 # Register some things for pickling
 #
 
diff --git a/Lib/multiprocessing/process.py b/Lib/multiprocessing/process.py
index 4eb9d72..1f89dba 100644
--- a/Lib/multiprocessing/process.py
+++ b/Lib/multiprocessing/process.py
@@ -26,11 +26,6 @@
 except OSError:
     ORIGINAL_DIR = None
 
-try:
-    bytes
-except NameError:
-    bytes = str                  # XXX not needed in Py2.6 and Py3.0
-
 #
 # Public functions
 #