diff --git a/Include/longobject.h b/Include/longobject.h
index 9e87604..9ec1902 100644
--- a/Include/longobject.h
+++ b/Include/longobject.h
@@ -51,9 +51,7 @@
 #endif /* HAVE_LONG_LONG */
 
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyLong_FromString(char *, char **, int);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyLong_FromUnicode(Py_UNICODE*, Py_ssize_t, int);
-#endif
 
 /* _PyLong_Sign.  Return 0 if v is 0, -1 if v < 0, +1 if v > 0.
    v must not be NULL, and must be a normalized long.
diff --git a/Include/object.h b/Include/object.h
index 40e52e3..f50ffe6 100644
--- a/Include/object.h
+++ b/Include/object.h
@@ -374,9 +374,7 @@
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyObject_Repr(PyObject *);
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) _PyObject_Str(PyObject *);
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyObject_Str(PyObject *);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyObject_Unicode(PyObject *);
-#endif
 PyAPI_FUNC(int) PyObject_Compare(PyObject *, PyObject *);
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyObject_RichCompare(PyObject *, PyObject *, int);
 PyAPI_FUNC(int) PyObject_RichCompareBool(PyObject *, PyObject *, int);
diff --git a/Include/pyerrors.h b/Include/pyerrors.h
index 562af10..5573b73 100644
--- a/Include/pyerrors.h
+++ b/Include/pyerrors.h
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
     PyObject *print_file_and_line;
 } PySyntaxErrorObject;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 typedef struct {
     PyObject_HEAD
     PyObject *dict;
@@ -38,7 +37,6 @@
     PyObject *end;
     PyObject *reason;
 } PyUnicodeErrorObject;
-#endif
 
 typedef struct {
     PyObject_HEAD
@@ -235,7 +233,6 @@
 PyAPI_FUNC(void) PyErr_SyntaxLocation(const char *, int);
 PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyErr_ProgramText(const char *, int);
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 /* The following functions are used to create and modify unicode
    exceptions from C */
 
@@ -297,7 +294,6 @@
 	PyObject *, const char *);
 PyAPI_FUNC(int) PyUnicodeTranslateError_SetReason(
 	PyObject *, const char *);
-#endif
 
 
 /* These APIs aren't really part of the error implementation, but
diff --git a/Include/unicodeobject.h b/Include/unicodeobject.h
index 0bad8c3..c12cb96 100644
--- a/Include/unicodeobject.h
+++ b/Include/unicodeobject.h
@@ -58,13 +58,6 @@
 
 /* --- Internal Unicode Format -------------------------------------------- */
 
-#ifndef Py_USING_UNICODE
-
-#define PyUnicode_Check(op)                 0
-#define PyUnicode_CheckExact(op)            0
-
-#else
-
 /* FIXME: MvL's new implementation assumes that Py_UNICODE_SIZE is
    properly set, but the default rules below doesn't set it.  I'll
    sort this out some other day -- fredrik@pythonware.com */
@@ -1262,5 +1255,4 @@
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
-#endif /* Py_USING_UNICODE */
 #endif /* !Py_UNICODEOBJECT_H */
diff --git a/Modules/_codecsmodule.c b/Modules/_codecsmodule.c
index 4dbceb7..b165f97 100644
--- a/Modules/_codecsmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_codecsmodule.c
@@ -93,15 +93,8 @@
     if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "O|ss:encode", &v, &encoding, &errors))
         return NULL;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
     if (encoding == NULL)
 	encoding = PyUnicode_GetDefaultEncoding();
-#else
-    if (encoding == NULL) {
-	PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "no encoding specified");
-	return NULL;
-    }
-#endif
 
     /* Encode via the codec registry */
     return PyCodec_Encode(v, encoding, errors);
@@ -127,15 +120,8 @@
     if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "O|ss:decode", &v, &encoding, &errors))
         return NULL;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
     if (encoding == NULL)
 	encoding = PyUnicode_GetDefaultEncoding();
-#else
-    if (encoding == NULL) {
-	PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "no encoding specified");
-	return NULL;
-    }
-#endif
 
     /* Decode via the codec registry */
     return PyCodec_Decode(v, encoding, errors);
@@ -198,7 +184,6 @@
 	return codec_tuple(str, PyString_Size(str));
 }
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 /* --- Decoder ------------------------------------------------------------ */
 
 static PyObject *
@@ -833,7 +818,6 @@
 }
 
 #endif /* MS_WINDOWS */
-#endif /* Py_USING_UNICODE */
 
 /* --- Error handler registry --------------------------------------------- */
 
@@ -888,7 +872,6 @@
 	decode__doc__},
     {"escape_encode",		escape_encode,			METH_VARARGS},
     {"escape_decode",		escape_decode,			METH_VARARGS},
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
     {"utf_8_encode",		utf_8_encode,			METH_VARARGS},
     {"utf_8_decode",		utf_8_decode,			METH_VARARGS},
     {"utf_7_encode",		utf_7_encode,			METH_VARARGS},
@@ -919,7 +902,6 @@
     {"mbcs_encode", 		mbcs_encode,			METH_VARARGS},
     {"mbcs_decode", 		mbcs_decode,			METH_VARARGS},
 #endif
-#endif /* Py_USING_UNICODE */
     {"register_error", 		register_error,			METH_VARARGS,
         register_error__doc__},
     {"lookup_error", 		lookup_error,			METH_VARARGS,
diff --git a/Modules/_elementtree.c b/Modules/_elementtree.c
index 2766b41..b2bbbcf 100644
--- a/Modules/_elementtree.c
+++ b/Modules/_elementtree.c
@@ -93,27 +93,6 @@
 #define LOCAL(type) static type
 #endif
 
-/* compatibility macros */
-#if (PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x02050000)
-typedef int Py_ssize_t;
-#define lenfunc inquiry
-#endif
-
-#if (PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x02040000)
-#define PyDict_CheckExact PyDict_Check
-#if (PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x02020000)
-#define PyList_CheckExact PyList_Check
-#define PyString_CheckExact PyString_Check
-#if (PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x01060000)
-#define Py_USING_UNICODE /* always enabled for 2.0 and 2.1 */
-#endif
-#endif
-#endif
-
-#if !defined(Py_RETURN_NONE)
-#define Py_RETURN_NONE return Py_INCREF(Py_None), Py_None
-#endif
-
 /* macros used to store 'join' flags in string object pointers.  note
    that all use of text and tail as object pointers must be wrapped in
    JOIN_OBJ.  see comments in the ElementObject definition for more
@@ -724,7 +703,6 @@
 
 #define PATHCHAR(ch) (ch == '/' || ch == '*' || ch == '[' || ch == '@')
 
-#if defined(Py_USING_UNICODE)
     if (PyUnicode_Check(tag)) {
         Py_UNICODE *p = PyUnicode_AS_UNICODE(tag);
         for (i = 0; i < PyUnicode_GET_SIZE(tag); i++) {
@@ -737,7 +715,6 @@
         }
         return 0;
     }
-#endif
     if (PyString_Check(tag)) {
         char *p = PyString_AS_STRING(tag);
         for (i = 0; i < PyString_GET_SIZE(tag); i++) {
@@ -1860,7 +1837,6 @@
 
 /* helpers */
 
-#if defined(Py_USING_UNICODE)
 LOCAL(int)
 checkstring(const char* string, int size)
 {
@@ -1873,7 +1849,6 @@
 
     return 0;
 }
-#endif
 
 LOCAL(PyObject*)
 makestring(const char* string, int size)
@@ -1881,10 +1856,8 @@
     /* convert a UTF-8 string to either a 7-bit ascii string or a
        Unicode string */
 
-#if defined(Py_USING_UNICODE)
     if (checkstring(string, size))
         return PyUnicode_DecodeUTF8(string, size, "strict");
-#endif
 
     return PyString_FromStringAndSize(string, size);
 }
@@ -1934,7 +1907,6 @@
         }
         
         /* decode universal name */
-#if defined(Py_USING_UNICODE)
         /* inline makestring, to avoid duplicating the source string if
            it's not an utf-8 string */
         p = PyString_AS_STRING(tag);
@@ -1946,7 +1918,6 @@
                 return NULL;
             }
         } else
-#endif
             value = tag; /* use tag as is */
 
         /* add to names dictionary */
@@ -2163,7 +2134,6 @@
     }
 }
 
-#if defined(Py_USING_UNICODE)
 static int
 expat_unknown_encoding_handler(XMLParserObject *self, const XML_Char *name,
                                XML_Encoding *info)
@@ -2200,7 +2170,6 @@
 
     return XML_STATUS_OK;
 }
-#endif
 
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 /* constructor and destructor */
@@ -2306,12 +2275,10 @@
             self->parser,
             (XML_ProcessingInstructionHandler) expat_pi_handler
             );
-#if defined(Py_USING_UNICODE)
     EXPAT(SetUnknownEncodingHandler)(
         self->parser,
         (XML_UnknownEncodingHandler) expat_unknown_encoding_handler, NULL
         );
-#endif
 
     ALLOC(sizeof(XMLParserObject), "create expatparser");
 
diff --git a/Modules/_localemodule.c b/Modules/_localemodule.c
index 02e9e53..b448be1 100644
--- a/Modules/_localemodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_localemodule.c
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@
 static PyObject*
 PyLocale_strcoll(PyObject* self, PyObject* args)
 {
-#if !defined(HAVE_WCSCOLL) || !defined(Py_USING_UNICODE)
+#if !defined(HAVE_WCSCOLL)
     char *s1,*s2;
     
     if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "ss:strcoll", &s1, &s2))
diff --git a/Modules/_sre.c b/Modules/_sre.c
index d402965..d7f608a 100644
--- a/Modules/_sre.c
+++ b/Modules/_sre.c
@@ -58,12 +58,8 @@
 /* defining this one enables tracing */
 #undef VERBOSE
 
-#if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x01060000
-#if PY_VERSION_HEX  < 0x02020000 || defined(Py_USING_UNICODE)
 /* defining this enables unicode support (default under 1.6a1 and later) */
 #define HAVE_UNICODE
-#endif
-#endif
 
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 /* optional features */
diff --git a/Modules/_testcapimodule.c b/Modules/_testcapimodule.c
index 09bb4ff..71e42c1 100644
--- a/Modules/_testcapimodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_testcapimodule.c
@@ -456,7 +456,6 @@
 	return Py_None;
 }
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 
 /* Test the u and u# codes for PyArg_ParseTuple. May leak memory in case
    of an error.
@@ -518,7 +517,6 @@
 	return PyCodec_IncrementalDecoder(encoding, errors);
 }
 
-#endif
 
 /* Simple test of _PyLong_NumBits and _PyLong_Sign. */
 static PyObject *
@@ -863,9 +861,7 @@
 	{"codec_incrementaldecoder",
 	 (PyCFunction)codec_incrementaldecoder,	 METH_VARARGS},
 #endif
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	{"test_u_code",		(PyCFunction)test_u_code,	 METH_NOARGS},
-#endif
 #ifdef WITH_THREAD
 	{"_test_thread_state",  test_thread_state, 		 METH_VARARGS},
 #endif
diff --git a/Modules/_tkinter.c b/Modules/_tkinter.c
index 7be7002..f879a05 100644
--- a/Modules/_tkinter.c
+++ b/Modules/_tkinter.c
@@ -337,7 +337,6 @@
 {
 	if (PyString_Check(value))
 		return PyString_AsString(value);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(value)) {
 		PyObject *v = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(value);
 		if (v == NULL)
@@ -349,7 +348,6 @@
 		Py_DECREF(v);
 		return PyString_AsString(v);
 	}
-#endif
 	else {
 		PyObject *v = PyObject_Str(value);
 		if (v == NULL)
@@ -775,7 +773,6 @@
 		for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
 			if (s[i] & 0x80)
 				break;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		if (i == len)
 			/* It is an ASCII string. */
 			self->string = PyString_FromStringAndSize(s, len);
@@ -786,9 +783,6 @@
 				self->string = PyString_FromStringAndSize(s, len);
 			}
 		}
-#else
-		self->string = PyString_FromStringAndSize(s, len);
-#endif
 		if (!self->string)
 			return NULL;
 	}
@@ -796,7 +790,6 @@
 	return self->string;
 }
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 PyDoc_STRVAR(PyTclObject_unicode__doc__, "convert argument to unicode");
 
 static PyObject *
@@ -812,7 +805,6 @@
 	s = Tcl_GetStringFromObj(self->value, &len);
 	return PyUnicode_DecodeUTF8(s, len, "strict");
 }
-#endif
 
 static PyObject *
 PyTclObject_repr(PyTclObject *self)
@@ -851,10 +843,8 @@
 };
 
 static PyMethodDef PyTclObject_methods[] = {
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	{"__unicode__",	(PyCFunction)PyTclObject_unicode, METH_NOARGS,
 	PyTclObject_unicode__doc__},
-#endif
 	{0}
 };
 
@@ -929,7 +919,6 @@
 		ckfree(FREECAST argv);
 		return result;
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(value)) {
 		Py_UNICODE *inbuf = PyUnicode_AS_UNICODE(value);
 		Py_ssize_t size = PyUnicode_GET_SIZE(value);
@@ -962,7 +951,6 @@
 #endif
 
 	}
-#endif
 	else if(PyTclObject_Check(value)) {
 		Tcl_Obj *v = ((PyTclObject*)value)->value;
 		Tcl_IncrRefCount(v);
@@ -987,7 +975,6 @@
 	if (value->typePtr == NULL) {
 		/* If the result contains any bytes with the top bit set,
 		   it's UTF-8 and we should decode it to Unicode */
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		int i;
 		char *s = value->bytes;
 		int len = value->length;
@@ -1006,9 +993,6 @@
 				result = PyString_FromStringAndSize(s, len);
 			}
 		}
-#else
-		result = PyString_FromStringAndSize(value->bytes, value->length);
-#endif
 		return result;
 	}
 
@@ -1066,7 +1050,6 @@
 	}
 
 	if (value->typePtr == app->StringType) {
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 #if defined(Py_UNICODE_WIDE) && TCL_UTF_MAX==3
 		PyObject *result;
 		int size;
@@ -1086,12 +1069,6 @@
 		return PyUnicode_FromUnicode(Tcl_GetUnicode(value),
 					     Tcl_GetCharLength(value));
 #endif
-#else
-		int size;
-		char *c;
-		c = Tcl_GetStringFromObj(value, &size);
-		return PyString_FromStringAndSize(c, size);
-#endif
 	}
 
 	return newPyTclObject(value);
@@ -1194,7 +1171,6 @@
 
 		/* If the result contains any bytes with the top bit set,
 		   it's UTF-8 and we should decode it to Unicode */
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		while (*p != '\0') {
 			if (*p & 0x80)
 				break;
@@ -1212,10 +1188,6 @@
 				res = PyString_FromStringAndSize(s, (int)(p-s));
 			}
 		}
-#else
-		p = strchr(p, '\0');
-		res = PyString_FromStringAndSize(s, (int)(p-s));
-#endif
 	}
 	return res;
 }
diff --git a/Modules/arraymodule.c b/Modules/arraymodule.c
index 626bdfc..c6de243 100644
--- a/Modules/arraymodule.c
+++ b/Modules/arraymodule.c
@@ -170,7 +170,6 @@
 	return 0;
 }
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 static PyObject *
 u_getitem(arrayobject *ap, Py_ssize_t i)
 {
@@ -194,7 +193,6 @@
 		((Py_UNICODE *)ap->ob_item)[i] = p[0];
 	return 0;
 }
-#endif
 
 static PyObject *
 h_getitem(arrayobject *ap, Py_ssize_t i)
@@ -394,9 +392,7 @@
 	{'c', sizeof(char), c_getitem, c_setitem},
 	{'b', sizeof(char), b_getitem, b_setitem},
 	{'B', sizeof(char), BB_getitem, BB_setitem},
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	{'u', sizeof(Py_UNICODE), u_getitem, u_setitem},
-#endif
 	{'h', sizeof(short), h_getitem, h_setitem},
 	{'H', sizeof(short), HH_getitem, HH_setitem},
 	{'i', sizeof(int), i_getitem, i_setitem},
@@ -1430,7 +1426,6 @@
 
 
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 static PyObject *
 array_fromunicode(arrayobject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
@@ -1491,7 +1486,6 @@
 array.tostring().decode() to obtain a unicode string from\n\
 an array of some other type.");
 
-#endif /* Py_USING_UNICODE */
 
 
 static PyObject *
@@ -1536,10 +1530,8 @@
 	 fromlist_doc},
 	{"fromstring",	(PyCFunction)array_fromstring,	METH_VARARGS,
 	 fromstring_doc},
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	{"fromunicode",	(PyCFunction)array_fromunicode,	METH_VARARGS,
 	 fromunicode_doc},
-#endif
 	{"index",	(PyCFunction)array_index,	METH_O,
 	 index_doc},
 	{"insert",	(PyCFunction)array_insert,	METH_VARARGS,
@@ -1562,10 +1554,8 @@
 	 tolist_doc},
 	{"tostring",	(PyCFunction)array_tostring,	METH_NOARGS,
 	 tostring_doc},
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	{"tounicode",   (PyCFunction)array_tounicode,	METH_NOARGS,
 	 tounicode_doc},
-#endif
 	{"write",	(PyCFunction)array_tofile,	METH_O,
 	 tofile_doc},
 	{NULL,		NULL}		/* sentinel */
@@ -1587,10 +1577,8 @@
 		
 	if (typecode == 'c')
 		v = array_tostring(a, NULL);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (typecode == 'u')
 		v = array_tounicode(a, NULL);
-#endif
 	else
 		v = array_tolist(a, NULL);
 	t = PyObject_Repr(v);
@@ -1899,7 +1887,6 @@
 					return NULL;
 				}
 				Py_DECREF(v);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 			} else if (initial != NULL && PyUnicode_Check(initial))  {
 				Py_ssize_t n = PyUnicode_GET_DATA_SIZE(initial);
 				if (n > 0) {
@@ -1916,7 +1903,6 @@
 					memcpy(item, PyUnicode_AS_DATA(initial), n);
 					self->allocated = self->ob_size;
 				}
-#endif
 			}
 			if (it != NULL) {
 				if (array_iter_extend((arrayobject *)a, it) == -1) {
diff --git a/Modules/cPickle.c b/Modules/cPickle.c
index 7b8ed66..9ce3f65 100644
--- a/Modules/cPickle.c
+++ b/Modules/cPickle.c
@@ -1256,7 +1256,6 @@
 }
 
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 /* A copy of PyUnicode_EncodeRawUnicodeEscape() that also translates
    backslash and newline characters to \uXXXX escapes. */
 static PyObject *
@@ -1373,7 +1372,6 @@
 	Py_XDECREF(repr);
 	return -1;
 }
-#endif
 
 /* A helper for save_tuple.  Push the len elements in tuple t on the stack. */
 static int
@@ -2225,13 +2223,11 @@
 			goto finally;
 		}
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
         case 'u':
 		if ((type == &PyUnicode_Type) && (PyString_GET_SIZE(args) < 2)) {
 			res = save_unicode(self, args, 0);
 			goto finally;
 		}
-#endif
 	}
 
 	if (args->ob_refcnt > 1) {
@@ -2255,14 +2251,12 @@
 		}
 		break;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
         case 'u':
 		if (type == &PyUnicode_Type) {
 			res = save_unicode(self, args, 1);
 			goto finally;
 		}
 		break;
-#endif
 
         case 't':
 		if (type == &PyTuple_Type) {
@@ -3326,7 +3320,6 @@
 }
 
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 static int
 load_unicode(Unpicklerobject *self)
 {
@@ -3346,10 +3339,8 @@
   finally:
 	return res;
 }
-#endif
 
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 static int
 load_binunicode(Unpicklerobject *self)
 {
@@ -3370,7 +3361,6 @@
 	PDATA_PUSH(self->stack, unicode, -1);
 	return 0;
 }
-#endif
 
 
 static int
@@ -4347,7 +4337,6 @@
 				break;
 			continue;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		case UNICODE:
 			if (load_unicode(self) < 0)
 				break;
@@ -4357,7 +4346,6 @@
 			if (load_binunicode(self) < 0)
 				break;
 			continue;
-#endif
 
 		case EMPTY_TUPLE:
 			if (load_counted_tuple(self, 0) < 0)
@@ -4737,7 +4725,6 @@
 				break;
 			continue;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		case UNICODE:
 			if (load_unicode(self) < 0)
 				break;
@@ -4747,7 +4734,6 @@
 			if (load_binunicode(self) < 0)
 				break;
 			continue;
-#endif
 
 		case EMPTY_TUPLE:
 			if (load_counted_tuple(self, 0) < 0)
diff --git a/Modules/posixmodule.c b/Modules/posixmodule.c
index 3922a50..f5106e1 100644
--- a/Modules/posixmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/posixmodule.c
@@ -44,10 +44,6 @@
 disguised Unix interface).  Refer to the library manual and\n\
 corresponding Unix manual entries for more information on calls.");
 
-#ifndef Py_USING_UNICODE
-/* This is used in signatures of functions. */
-#define Py_UNICODE void
-#endif
 
 #if defined(PYOS_OS2)
 #define  INCL_DOS
@@ -1895,7 +1891,6 @@
 	return PyString_FromString(buf);
 }
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 PyDoc_STRVAR(posix_getcwdu__doc__,
 "getcwdu() -> path\n\n\
 Return a unicode string representing the current working directory.");
@@ -1949,7 +1944,6 @@
 	return PyUnicode_Decode(buf, strlen(buf), Py_FileSystemDefaultEncoding,"strict");
 }
 #endif
-#endif
 
 
 #ifdef HAVE_LINK
@@ -2242,7 +2236,6 @@
 			d = NULL;
 			break;
 		}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		if (arg_is_unicode) {
 			PyObject *w;
 
@@ -2259,7 +2252,6 @@
 				PyErr_Clear();
 			}
 		}
-#endif
 		if (PyList_Append(d, v) != 0) {
 			Py_DECREF(v);
 			Py_DECREF(d);
@@ -5764,14 +5756,11 @@
 	char buf[MAXPATHLEN];
 	char *path;
 	int n;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	int arg_is_unicode = 0;
-#endif
 
 	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "et:readlink", 
 				Py_FileSystemDefaultEncoding, &path))
 		return NULL;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	v = PySequence_GetItem(args, 0);
 	if (v == NULL) return NULL;
 
@@ -5779,7 +5768,6 @@
 		arg_is_unicode = 1;
 	}
 	Py_DECREF(v);
-#endif
 
 	Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
 	n = readlink(path, buf, (int) sizeof buf);
@@ -5788,7 +5776,6 @@
 		return posix_error_with_filename(path);
 
 	v = PyString_FromStringAndSize(buf, n);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (arg_is_unicode) {
 		PyObject *w;
 
@@ -5805,7 +5792,6 @@
 			PyErr_Clear();
 		}
 	}
-#endif
 	return v;
 }
 #endif /* HAVE_READLINK */
@@ -8184,10 +8170,8 @@
 #endif
 #ifdef HAVE_GETCWD
 	{"getcwd",	posix_getcwd, METH_NOARGS, posix_getcwd__doc__},
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	{"getcwdu",	posix_getcwdu, METH_NOARGS, posix_getcwdu__doc__},
 #endif
-#endif
 #ifdef HAVE_LINK
 	{"link",	posix_link, METH_VARARGS, posix_link__doc__},
 #endif /* HAVE_LINK */
diff --git a/Modules/pyexpat.c b/Modules/pyexpat.c
index 87a16ef..aebae1c 100644
--- a/Modules/pyexpat.c
+++ b/Modules/pyexpat.c
@@ -22,12 +22,7 @@
 #define PyDoc_STRVAR(name,str) PyDoc_VAR(name) = PyDoc_STR(str)
 #endif
 
-#if (PY_MAJOR_VERSION == 2 && PY_MINOR_VERSION < 2)
-/* In Python 2.0 and  2.1, disabling Unicode was not possible. */
-#define Py_USING_UNICODE
-#else
 #define FIX_TRACE
-#endif
 
 enum HandlerTypes {
     StartElement,
@@ -161,7 +156,6 @@
 }
 
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 /* Convert a string of XML_Chars into a Unicode string.
    Returns None if str is a null pointer. */
 
@@ -190,7 +184,6 @@
     }
     return PyUnicode_DecodeUTF8((const char *)str, len, "strict");
 }
-#endif
 
 /* Convert a string of XML_Chars into an 8-bit Python string.
    Returns None if str is a null pointer. */
@@ -418,13 +411,9 @@
     return res;
 }
 
-#ifndef Py_USING_UNICODE
-#define STRING_CONV_FUNC conv_string_to_utf8
-#else
 /* Python 2.0 and later versions, when built with Unicode support */
 #define STRING_CONV_FUNC (self->returns_unicode \
                           ? conv_string_to_unicode : conv_string_to_utf8)
-#endif
 
 static PyObject*
 string_intern(xmlparseobject *self, const char* str)
@@ -460,13 +449,9 @@
     args = PyTuple_New(1);
     if (args == NULL)
         return -1;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
     temp = (self->returns_unicode 
             ? conv_string_len_to_unicode(buffer, len) 
             : conv_string_len_to_utf8(buffer, len));
-#else
-    temp = conv_string_len_to_utf8(buffer, len);
-#endif
     if (temp == NULL) {
         Py_DECREF(args);
         flag_error(self);
@@ -674,24 +659,6 @@
               string_intern(self, systemId), string_intern(self, publicId),
               string_intern(self, notationName)))
 
-#ifndef Py_USING_UNICODE
-VOID_HANDLER(EntityDecl,
-             (void *userData,
-              const XML_Char *entityName,
-              int is_parameter_entity,
-              const XML_Char *value,
-              int value_length,
-              const XML_Char *base,
-              const XML_Char *systemId,
-              const XML_Char *publicId,
-              const XML_Char *notationName),
-             ("NiNNNNN",
-              string_intern(self, entityName), is_parameter_entity,
-              conv_string_len_to_utf8(value, value_length),
-              string_intern(self, base), string_intern(self, systemId),
-              string_intern(self, publicId),
-              string_intern(self, notationName)))
-#else
 VOID_HANDLER(EntityDecl,
              (void *userData,
               const XML_Char *entityName,
@@ -710,7 +677,6 @@
               string_intern(self, base), string_intern(self, systemId),
               string_intern(self, publicId),
               string_intern(self, notationName)))
-#endif
 
 VOID_HANDLER(XmlDecl,
              (void *userData,
@@ -761,14 +727,10 @@
 
         if (flush_character_buffer(self) < 0)
             goto finally;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
         modelobj = conv_content_model(model,
                                       (self->returns_unicode
                                        ? conv_string_to_unicode
                                        : conv_string_to_utf8));
-#else
-        modelobj = conv_content_model(model, conv_string_to_utf8);
-#endif
         if (modelobj == NULL) {
             flag_error(self);
             goto finally;
@@ -856,15 +818,6 @@
                (void *userData),
 		("()"))
 
-#ifndef Py_USING_UNICODE
-VOID_HANDLER(Default,
-	      (void *userData, const XML_Char *s, int len),
-	      ("(N)", conv_string_len_to_utf8(s,len)))
-
-VOID_HANDLER(DefaultHandlerExpand,
-	      (void *userData, const XML_Char *s, int len),
-	      ("(N)", conv_string_len_to_utf8(s,len)))
-#else
 VOID_HANDLER(Default,
 	      (void *userData, const XML_Char *s, int len),
 	      ("(N)", (self->returns_unicode
@@ -876,7 +829,6 @@
 	      ("(N)", (self->returns_unicode
 		       ? conv_string_len_to_unicode(s,len)
 		       : conv_string_len_to_utf8(s,len))))
-#endif
 
 INT_HANDLER(NotStandalone,
 		(void *userData),
@@ -1268,7 +1220,6 @@
 /* ---------- */
 
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 
 /* pyexpat international encoding support.
    Make it as simple as possible.
@@ -1319,7 +1270,6 @@
     return result;
 }
 
-#endif
 
 static PyObject *
 newxmlparseobject(char *encoding, char *namespace_separator, PyObject *intern)
@@ -1336,11 +1286,7 @@
     if (self == NULL)
         return NULL;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
     self->returns_unicode = 1;
-#else
-    self->returns_unicode = 0;
-#endif
 
     self->buffer = NULL;
     self->buffer_size = CHARACTER_DATA_BUFFER_SIZE;
@@ -1370,10 +1316,8 @@
         return NULL;
     }
     XML_SetUserData(self->itself, (void *)self);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
     XML_SetUnknownEncodingHandler(self->itself,
                   (XML_UnknownEncodingHandler) PyUnknownEncodingHandler, NULL);
-#endif
 
     for (i = 0; handler_info[i].name != NULL; i++)
         /* do nothing */;
@@ -1631,13 +1575,7 @@
     }
     if (strcmp(name, "returns_unicode") == 0) {
         if (PyObject_IsTrue(v)) {
-#ifndef Py_USING_UNICODE
-            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError,
-                            "Unicode support not available");
-            return -1;
-#else
             self->returns_unicode = 1;
-#endif
         }
         else
             self->returns_unicode = 0;
@@ -1886,9 +1824,7 @@
                            Py_BuildValue("(iii)", info.major,
                                          info.minor, info.micro));
     }
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
     init_template_buffer();
-#endif
     /* XXX When Expat supports some way of figuring out how it was
        compiled, this should check and set native_encoding
        appropriately.
diff --git a/Objects/abstract.c b/Objects/abstract.c
index 5a34b96..645fd95 100644
--- a/Objects/abstract.c
+++ b/Objects/abstract.c
@@ -931,13 +931,11 @@
 		 */
 		return long_from_string(PyString_AS_STRING(o),
 					PyString_GET_SIZE(o));
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (PyUnicode_Check(o))
 		/* The above check is done in PyLong_FromUnicode(). */
 		return PyLong_FromUnicode(PyUnicode_AS_UNICODE(o),
 					  PyUnicode_GET_SIZE(o),
 					  10);
-#endif
 	if (!PyObject_AsCharBuffer(o, &buffer, &buffer_len))
 		return long_from_string(buffer, buffer_len);
 
diff --git a/Objects/complexobject.c b/Objects/complexobject.c
index 82dd7c1..b65a982 100644
--- a/Objects/complexobject.c
+++ b/Objects/complexobject.c
@@ -696,16 +696,13 @@
 	int sw_error=0;
 	int sign;
 	char buffer[256]; /* For errors */
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	char s_buffer[256];
-#endif
 	Py_ssize_t len;
 
 	if (PyString_Check(v)) {
 		s = PyString_AS_STRING(v);
 		len = PyString_GET_SIZE(v);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(v)) {
 		if (PyUnicode_GET_SIZE(v) >= (Py_ssize_t)sizeof(s_buffer)) {
 			PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError,
@@ -720,7 +717,6 @@
 		s = s_buffer;
 		len = strlen(s);
 	}
-#endif
 	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(v, &s, &len)) {
 		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
 				"complex() arg is not a string");
diff --git a/Objects/exceptions.c b/Objects/exceptions.c
index 2b05cc5..e30e9df 100644
--- a/Objects/exceptions.c
+++ b/Objects/exceptions.c
@@ -1183,7 +1183,6 @@
 SimpleExtendsException(PyExc_ValueError, UnicodeError,
                        "Unicode related error.");
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 static int
 get_int(PyObject *attr, Py_ssize_t *value, const char *name)
 {
@@ -1788,7 +1787,6 @@
     return PyObject_CallFunction(PyExc_UnicodeTranslateError, "u#nns",
                                  object, length, start, end, reason);
 }
-#endif
 
 
 /*
@@ -1989,11 +1987,9 @@
     PRE_INIT(KeyError)
     PRE_INIT(ValueError)
     PRE_INIT(UnicodeError)
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
     PRE_INIT(UnicodeEncodeError)
     PRE_INIT(UnicodeDecodeError)
     PRE_INIT(UnicodeTranslateError)
-#endif
     PRE_INIT(AssertionError)
     PRE_INIT(ArithmeticError)
     PRE_INIT(FloatingPointError)
@@ -2051,11 +2047,9 @@
     POST_INIT(KeyError)
     POST_INIT(ValueError)
     POST_INIT(UnicodeError)
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
     POST_INIT(UnicodeEncodeError)
     POST_INIT(UnicodeDecodeError)
     POST_INIT(UnicodeTranslateError)
-#endif
     POST_INIT(AssertionError)
     POST_INIT(ArithmeticError)
     POST_INIT(FloatingPointError)
diff --git a/Objects/fileobject.c b/Objects/fileobject.c
index d12e132..50b3cd6 100644
--- a/Objects/fileobject.c
+++ b/Objects/fileobject.c
@@ -412,7 +412,6 @@
 file_repr(PyFileObject *f)
 {
 	if (PyUnicode_Check(f->f_name)) {
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		PyObject *ret = NULL;
 		PyObject *name = PyUnicode_AsUnicodeEscapeString(f->f_name);
 		const char *name_str = name ? PyString_AsString(name) : "?";
@@ -423,7 +422,6 @@
 				   f);
 		Py_XDECREF(name);
 		return ret;
-#endif
 	} else {
 		return PyString_FromFormat("<%s file '%s', mode '%s' at %p>",
 				   f->f_fp == NULL ? "closed" : "open",
@@ -1337,7 +1335,6 @@
 			}
 		}
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (n < 0 && result != NULL && PyUnicode_Check(result)) {
 		Py_UNICODE *s = PyUnicode_AS_UNICODE(result);
 		Py_ssize_t len = PyUnicode_GET_SIZE(result);
@@ -1358,7 +1355,6 @@
 			}
 		}
 	}
-#endif
 	return result;
 }
 
@@ -2124,15 +2120,12 @@
 	}
 	else if (PyFile_Check(f)) {
 		FILE *fp = PyFile_AsFile(f);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		PyObject *enc = ((PyFileObject*)f)->f_encoding;
 		int result;
-#endif
 		if (fp == NULL) {
 			err_closed();
 			return -1;
 		}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
                 if ((flags & Py_PRINT_RAW) &&
 		    PyUnicode_Check(v) && enc != Py_None) {
 			char *cenc = PyString_AS_STRING(enc);
@@ -2146,9 +2139,6 @@
 		result = PyObject_Print(value, fp, flags);
 		Py_DECREF(value);
 		return result;
-#else
-		return PyObject_Print(v, fp, flags);
-#endif
 	}
 	writer = PyObject_GetAttrString(f, "write");
 	if (writer == NULL)
diff --git a/Objects/floatobject.c b/Objects/floatobject.c
index 9e6db54..fde2380 100644
--- a/Objects/floatobject.c
+++ b/Objects/floatobject.c
@@ -68,16 +68,13 @@
 	const char *s, *last, *end;
 	double x;
 	char buffer[256]; /* for errors */
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	char s_buffer[256]; /* for objects convertible to a char buffer */
-#endif
 	Py_ssize_t len;
 
 	if (PyString_Check(v)) {
 		s = PyString_AS_STRING(v);
 		len = PyString_GET_SIZE(v);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(v)) {
 		if (PyUnicode_GET_SIZE(v) >= (Py_ssize_t)sizeof(s_buffer)) {
 			PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError,
@@ -92,7 +89,6 @@
 		s = s_buffer;
 		len = strlen(s);
 	}
-#endif
 	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(v, &s, &len)) {
 		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
 				"float() argument must be a string or a number");
diff --git a/Objects/intobject.c b/Objects/intobject.c
index 932b616..0aae6ac 100644
--- a/Objects/intobject.c
+++ b/Objects/intobject.c
@@ -387,7 +387,6 @@
 	return PyInt_FromLong(x);
 }
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 PyObject *
 PyInt_FromUnicode(Py_UNICODE *s, Py_ssize_t length, int base)
 {
@@ -405,7 +404,6 @@
 	PyMem_FREE(buffer);
 	return result;
 }
-#endif
 
 /* Methods */
 
@@ -986,12 +984,10 @@
 		}
 		return PyInt_FromString(string, NULL, base);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (PyUnicode_Check(x))
 		return PyInt_FromUnicode(PyUnicode_AS_UNICODE(x),
 					 PyUnicode_GET_SIZE(x),
 					 base);
-#endif
 	PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
 			"int() can't convert non-string with explicit base");
 	return NULL;
diff --git a/Objects/longobject.c b/Objects/longobject.c
index 95abfdd..61e5bed 100644
--- a/Objects/longobject.c
+++ b/Objects/longobject.c
@@ -1939,7 +1939,6 @@
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 PyObject *
 PyLong_FromUnicode(Py_UNICODE *u, Py_ssize_t length, int base)
 {
@@ -1957,7 +1956,6 @@
 	PyMem_FREE(buffer);
 	return result;
 }
-#endif
 
 /* forward */
 static PyLongObject *x_divrem
@@ -3538,12 +3536,10 @@
 		}
 		return PyLong_FromString(PyString_AS_STRING(x), NULL, base);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(x))
 		return PyLong_FromUnicode(PyUnicode_AS_UNICODE(x),
 					  PyUnicode_GET_SIZE(x),
 					  base);
-#endif
 	else {
 		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
 			"int() can't convert non-string with explicit base");
diff --git a/Objects/object.c b/Objects/object.c
index 0bf0c60..ada1d1e 100644
--- a/Objects/object.c
+++ b/Objects/object.c
@@ -361,7 +361,6 @@
 		res = (*v->ob_type->tp_repr)(v);
 		if (res == NULL)
 			return NULL;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		if (PyUnicode_Check(res)) {
 			PyObject* str;
 			str = PyUnicode_AsEncodedString(res, NULL, NULL);
@@ -371,7 +370,6 @@
 			else
 				return NULL;
 		}
-#endif
 		if (!PyString_Check(res)) {
 			PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 				     "__repr__ returned non-string (type %.200s)",
@@ -394,12 +392,10 @@
 		Py_INCREF(v);
 		return v;
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (PyUnicode_CheckExact(v)) {
 		Py_INCREF(v);
 		return v;
 	}
-#endif
 	if (v->ob_type->tp_str == NULL)
 		return PyObject_Repr(v);
 
@@ -407,9 +403,7 @@
 	if (res == NULL)
 		return NULL;
 	type_ok = PyString_Check(res);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	type_ok = type_ok || PyUnicode_Check(res);
-#endif
 	if (!type_ok) {
 		PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 			     "__str__ returned non-string (type %.200s)",
@@ -426,7 +420,6 @@
 	PyObject *res = _PyObject_Str(v);
 	if (res == NULL)
 		return NULL;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (PyUnicode_Check(res)) {
 		PyObject* str;
 		str = PyUnicode_AsEncodedString(res, NULL, NULL);
@@ -436,12 +429,10 @@
 		else
 		    	return NULL;
 	}
-#endif
 	assert(PyString_Check(res));
 	return res;
 }
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 PyObject *
 PyObject_Unicode(PyObject *v)
 {
@@ -502,7 +493,6 @@
 	}
 	return res;
 }
-#endif
 
 
 /* The new comparison philosophy is: we completely separate three-way
@@ -895,7 +885,6 @@
 	PyTypeObject *tp = v->ob_type;
 
 	if (!PyString_Check(name)) {
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		/* The Unicode to string conversion is done here because the
 		   existing tp_getattro slots expect a string object as name
 		   and we wouldn't want to break those. */
@@ -905,7 +894,6 @@
 				return NULL;
 		}
 		else
-#endif
 		{
 			PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 				     "attribute name must be string, not '%.200s'",
@@ -942,7 +930,6 @@
 	int err;
 
 	if (!PyString_Check(name)){
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		/* The Unicode to string conversion is done here because the
 		   existing tp_setattro slots expect a string object as name
 		   and we wouldn't want to break those. */
@@ -952,7 +939,6 @@
 				return -1;
 		}
 		else
-#endif
 		{
 			PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 				     "attribute name must be string, not '%.200s'",
@@ -1039,7 +1025,6 @@
 	PyObject **dictptr;
 
 	if (!PyString_Check(name)){
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		/* The Unicode to string conversion is done here because the
 		   existing tp_setattro slots expect a string object as name
 		   and we wouldn't want to break those. */
@@ -1049,7 +1034,6 @@
 				return NULL;
 		}
 		else
-#endif
 		{
 			PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 				     "attribute name must be string, not '%.200s'",
@@ -1157,7 +1141,6 @@
 	int res = -1;
 
 	if (!PyString_Check(name)){
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		/* The Unicode to string conversion is done here because the
 		   existing tp_setattro slots expect a string object as name
 		   and we wouldn't want to break those. */
@@ -1167,7 +1150,6 @@
 				return -1;
 		}
 		else
-#endif
 		{
 			PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 				     "attribute name must be string, not '%.200s'",
diff --git a/Objects/stringobject.c b/Objects/stringobject.c
index 68bf703..248070f 100644
--- a/Objects/stringobject.c
+++ b/Objects/stringobject.c
@@ -379,12 +379,7 @@
     }
 
     if (encoding == NULL) {
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	encoding = PyUnicode_GetDefaultEncoding();
-#else
-	PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "no encoding specified");
-	goto onError;
-#endif
     }
 
     /* Decode via the codec registry */
@@ -408,7 +403,6 @@
     if (v == NULL)
         goto onError;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
     /* Convert Unicode to a string using the default encoding */
     if (PyUnicode_Check(v)) {
 	PyObject *temp = v;
@@ -417,7 +411,6 @@
 	if (v == NULL)
 	    goto onError;
     }
-#endif
     if (!PyString_Check(v)) {
         PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
                      "decoder did not return a string object (type=%.400s)",
@@ -459,12 +452,7 @@
     }
 
     if (encoding == NULL) {
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	encoding = PyUnicode_GetDefaultEncoding();
-#else
-	PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "no encoding specified");
-	goto onError;
-#endif
     }
 
     /* Encode via the codec registry */
@@ -488,7 +476,6 @@
     if (v == NULL)
         goto onError;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
     /* Convert Unicode to a string using the default encoding */
     if (PyUnicode_Check(v)) {
 	PyObject *temp = v;
@@ -497,7 +484,6 @@
 	if (v == NULL)
 	    goto onError;
     }
-#endif
     if (!PyString_Check(v)) {
         PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
                      "encoder did not return a string object (type=%.400s)",
@@ -560,7 +546,6 @@
 	while (s < end) {
 		if (*s != '\\') {
 		  non_esc:
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 			if (recode_encoding && (*s & 0x80)) {
 				PyObject *u, *w;
 				char *r;
@@ -589,9 +574,6 @@
 			} else {
 				*p++ = *s++;
 			}
-#else
-			*p++ = *s++;
-#endif
 			continue;
 		}
 		s++;
@@ -663,17 +645,6 @@
 					     errors);
 				goto failed;
 			}
-#ifndef Py_USING_UNICODE
-		case 'u':
-		case 'U':
-		case 'N':
-			if (unicode) {
-				PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError,
-					  "Unicode escapes not legal "
-					  "when Unicode disabled");
-				goto failed;
-			}
-#endif
 		default:
 			*p++ = '\\';
 			s--;
@@ -739,17 +710,15 @@
 	}
 
 	if (!PyString_Check(obj)) {
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		if (PyUnicode_Check(obj)) {
 			obj = _PyUnicode_AsDefaultEncodedString(obj, NULL);
 			if (obj == NULL)
 				return -1;
 		}
 		else
-#endif
 		{
 			PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
-				     "expected string or Unicode object, "
+				     "expected str object, "
 				     "%.200s found", obj->ob_type->tp_name);
 			return -1;
 		}
@@ -944,10 +913,8 @@
 	register Py_ssize_t size;
 	register PyStringObject *op;
 	if (!PyString_Check(bb)) {
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		if (PyUnicode_Check(bb))
 		    return PyUnicode_Concat((PyObject *)a, bb);
-#endif
                 if (PyBytes_Check(bb))
 			return PyBytes_Concat((PyObject *)a, bb);
 		PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
@@ -1068,10 +1035,8 @@
 string_contains(PyObject *str_obj, PyObject *sub_obj)
 {
 	if (!PyString_CheckExact(sub_obj)) {
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		if (PyUnicode_Check(sub_obj))
 			return PyUnicode_Contains(str_obj, sub_obj);
-#endif
 		if (!PyString_Check(sub_obj)) {
 			PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 			    "'in <string>' requires string as left operand, "
@@ -1477,10 +1442,8 @@
 		sub = PyString_AS_STRING(subobj);
 		n = PyString_GET_SIZE(subobj);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(subobj))
 		return PyUnicode_Split((PyObject *)self, subobj, maxsplit);
-#endif
 	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(subobj, &sub, &n))
 		return NULL;
 
@@ -1543,10 +1506,8 @@
 		sep = PyString_AS_STRING(sep_obj);
 		sep_len = PyString_GET_SIZE(sep_obj);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(sep_obj))
 		return PyUnicode_Partition((PyObject *) self, sep_obj);
-#endif
 	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(sep_obj, &sep, &sep_len))
 		return NULL;
 
@@ -1574,10 +1535,8 @@
 		sep = PyString_AS_STRING(sep_obj);
 		sep_len = PyString_GET_SIZE(sep_obj);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(sep_obj))
 		return PyUnicode_Partition((PyObject *) self, sep_obj);
-#endif
 	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(sep_obj, &sep, &sep_len))
 		return NULL;
 
@@ -1684,10 +1643,8 @@
 		sub = PyString_AS_STRING(subobj);
 		n = PyString_GET_SIZE(subobj);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(subobj))
 		return PyUnicode_RSplit((PyObject *)self, subobj, maxsplit);
-#endif
 	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(subobj, &sub, &n))
 		return NULL;
 
@@ -1774,7 +1731,6 @@
 		const size_t old_sz = sz;
 		item = PySequence_Fast_GET_ITEM(seq, i);
 		if (!PyString_Check(item)){
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 			if (PyUnicode_Check(item)) {
 				/* Defer to Unicode join.
 				 * CAUTION:  There's no gurantee that the
@@ -1786,7 +1742,6 @@
 				Py_DECREF(seq);
 				return result;
 			}
-#endif
 			PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 				     "sequence item %zd: expected string,"
 				     " %.80s found",
@@ -1868,11 +1823,9 @@
 		sub = PyString_AS_STRING(subobj);
 		sub_len = PyString_GET_SIZE(subobj);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(subobj))
 		return PyUnicode_Find(
 			(PyObject *)self, subobj, start, end, dir);
-#endif
 	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(subobj, &sub, &sub_len))
 		/* XXX - the "expected a character buffer object" is pretty
 		   confusing for a non-expert.  remap to something else ? */
@@ -2041,7 +1994,6 @@
 	if (sep != NULL && sep != Py_None) {
 		if (PyString_Check(sep))
 			return do_xstrip(self, striptype, sep);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		else if (PyUnicode_Check(sep)) {
 			PyObject *uniself = PyUnicode_FromObject((PyObject *)self);
 			PyObject *res;
@@ -2052,13 +2004,8 @@
 			Py_DECREF(uniself);
 			return res;
 		}
-#endif
 		PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
-			     "%s arg must be None, str or unicode",
-#else
 			     "%s arg must be None or str",
-#endif
 			     STRIPNAME(striptype));
 		return NULL;
 	}
@@ -2068,7 +2015,7 @@
 
 
 PyDoc_STRVAR(strip__doc__,
-"S.strip([chars]) -> string or unicode\n\
+"S.strip([chars]) -> str\n\
 \n\
 Return a copy of the string S with leading and trailing\n\
 whitespace removed.\n\
@@ -2086,7 +2033,7 @@
 
 
 PyDoc_STRVAR(lstrip__doc__,
-"S.lstrip([chars]) -> string or unicode\n\
+"S.lstrip([chars]) -> str\n\
 \n\
 Return a copy of the string S with leading whitespace removed.\n\
 If chars is given and not None, remove characters in chars instead.\n\
@@ -2103,7 +2050,7 @@
 
 
 PyDoc_STRVAR(rstrip__doc__,
-"S.rstrip([chars]) -> string or unicode\n\
+"S.rstrip([chars]) -> str\n\
 \n\
 Return a copy of the string S with trailing whitespace removed.\n\
 If chars is given and not None, remove characters in chars instead.\n\
@@ -2281,7 +2228,6 @@
 		sub = PyString_AS_STRING(sub_obj);
 		sub_len = PyString_GET_SIZE(sub_obj);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(sub_obj)) {
 		Py_ssize_t count;
 		count = PyUnicode_Count((PyObject *)self, sub_obj, start, end);
@@ -2290,7 +2236,6 @@
 		else
 		    	return PyInt_FromSsize_t(count);
 	}
-#endif
 	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(sub_obj, &sub, &sub_len))
 		return NULL;
 
@@ -2367,7 +2312,6 @@
 		table = NULL;
 		tablen = 256;
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(tableobj)) {
 		/* Unicode .translate() does not support the deletechars
 		   parameter; instead a mapping to None will cause characters
@@ -2379,7 +2323,6 @@
 		}
 		return PyUnicode_Translate((PyObject *)self, tableobj, NULL);
 	}
-#endif
 	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(tableobj, &table, &tablen))
 		return NULL;
 
@@ -2394,13 +2337,11 @@
 			del_table = PyString_AS_STRING(delobj);
 			dellen = PyString_GET_SIZE(delobj);
 		}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		else if (PyUnicode_Check(delobj)) {
 			PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
 			"deletions are implemented differently for unicode");
 			return NULL;
 		}
-#endif
 		else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(delobj, &del_table, &dellen))
 			return NULL;
 	}
@@ -3069,11 +3010,9 @@
 		from_s = PyString_AS_STRING(from);
 		from_len = PyString_GET_SIZE(from);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (PyUnicode_Check(from))
 		return PyUnicode_Replace((PyObject *)self,
 					 from, to, count);
-#endif
 	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(from, &from_s, &from_len))
 		return NULL;
 
@@ -3081,11 +3020,9 @@
 		to_s = PyString_AS_STRING(to);
 		to_len = PyString_GET_SIZE(to);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(to))
 		return PyUnicode_Replace((PyObject *)self,
 					 from, to, count);
-#endif
 	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(to, &to_s, &to_len))
 		return NULL;
 
@@ -3113,11 +3050,9 @@
 		sub = PyString_AS_STRING(substr);
 		slen = PyString_GET_SIZE(substr);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(substr))
 		return PyUnicode_Tailmatch((PyObject *)self,
 					   substr, start, end, direction);
-#endif
 	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(substr, &sub, &slen))
 		return -1;
 	str = PyString_AS_STRING(self);
@@ -4009,7 +3944,7 @@
 PyTypeObject PyString_Type = {
 	PyObject_HEAD_INIT(&PyType_Type)
 	0,
-	"str8",
+	"str",
 	sizeof(PyStringObject),
 	sizeof(char),
  	string_dealloc, 			/* tp_dealloc */
@@ -4458,9 +4393,7 @@
 	Py_ssize_t reslen, rescnt, fmtcnt;
 	int args_owned = 0;
 	PyObject *result, *orig_args;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	PyObject *v, *w;
-#endif
 	PyObject *dict = NULL;
 	if (format == NULL || !PyString_Check(format) || args == NULL) {
 		PyErr_BadInternalCall();
@@ -4512,10 +4445,8 @@
 			Py_ssize_t len;
 			char formatbuf[FORMATBUFLEN];
 			     /* For format{float,int,char}() */
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 			char *fmt_start = fmt;
 			Py_ssize_t argidx_start = argidx;
-#endif
 
 			fmt++;
 			if (*fmt == '(') {
@@ -4669,22 +4600,18 @@
 				len = 1;
 				break;
 			case 's':
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 				if (PyUnicode_Check(v)) {
 					fmt = fmt_start;
 					argidx = argidx_start;
 					goto unicode;
 				}
-#endif
 				temp = _PyObject_Str(v);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 				if (temp != NULL && PyUnicode_Check(temp)) {
 					Py_DECREF(temp);
 					fmt = fmt_start;
 					argidx = argidx_start;
 					goto unicode;
 				}
-#endif
 				/* Fall through */
 			case 'r':
 				if (c == 'r')
@@ -4749,13 +4676,11 @@
 					fill = '0';
 				break;
 			case 'c':
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 				if (PyUnicode_Check(v)) {
 					fmt = fmt_start;
 					argidx = argidx_start;
 					goto unicode;
 				}
-#endif
 				pbuf = formatbuf;
 				len = formatchar(pbuf, sizeof(formatbuf), v);
 				if (len < 0)
@@ -4864,7 +4789,6 @@
 	_PyString_Resize(&result, reslen - rescnt);
 	return result;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
  unicode:
 	if (args_owned) {
 		Py_DECREF(args);
@@ -4909,7 +4833,6 @@
 	Py_DECREF(v);
 	Py_DECREF(args);
 	return w;
-#endif /* Py_USING_UNICODE */
 
  error:
 	Py_DECREF(result);
diff --git a/Objects/typeobject.c b/Objects/typeobject.c
index bf77bea..f743196 100644
--- a/Objects/typeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/typeobject.c
@@ -1505,7 +1505,6 @@
 	return 1;
 }
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 /* Replace Unicode objects in slots.  */
 
 static PyObject *
@@ -1539,7 +1538,6 @@
 	}
 	return slots;
 }
-#endif
 
 /* Forward */
 static int
@@ -1713,7 +1711,6 @@
 			return NULL;
 		}
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		tmp = _unicode_to_string(slots, nslots);
 		if (tmp == NULL)
 			goto bad_slots;
@@ -1721,7 +1718,6 @@
 			Py_DECREF(slots);
 			slots = tmp;
 		}
-#endif
 		/* Check for valid slot names and two special cases */
 		for (i = 0; i < nslots; i++) {
 			PyObject *tmp = PyTuple_GET_ITEM(slots, i);
diff --git a/PC/pyconfig.h b/PC/pyconfig.h
index f2ef7f9..c432fa8 100644
--- a/PC/pyconfig.h
+++ b/PC/pyconfig.h
@@ -475,9 +475,6 @@
 /* Define if you want to use the GNU readline library */
 /* #define WITH_READLINE 1 */
 
-/* Define if you want to have a Unicode type. */
-#define Py_USING_UNICODE
-
 /* Define as the integral type used for Unicode representation. */
 #define PY_UNICODE_TYPE unsigned short
 
diff --git a/Parser/tokenizer.c b/Parser/tokenizer.c
index ec3c5db..02f33e2 100644
--- a/Parser/tokenizer.c
+++ b/Parser/tokenizer.c
@@ -272,7 +272,6 @@
 			    strcmp(cs, "iso-8859-1") == 0) {
 				tok->encoding = cs;
 			} else {
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 				r = set_readline(tok, cs);
 				if (r) {
 					tok->encoding = cs;
@@ -280,13 +279,6 @@
 				}
 				else
 					PyMem_FREE(cs);
-#else
-                                /* Without Unicode support, we cannot
-                                   process the coding spec. Since there
-                                   won't be any Unicode literals, that
-                                   won't matter. */
-				PyMem_FREE(cs);
-#endif
 			}
 		} else {	/* then, compare cs with BOM */
 			r = (strcmp(tok->encoding, cs) == 0);
@@ -363,11 +355,6 @@
 static char *
 fp_readl(char *s, int size, struct tok_state *tok)
 {
-#ifndef Py_USING_UNICODE
-	/* In a non-Unicode built, this should never be called. */
-	Py_FatalError("fp_readl should not be called in this build.");
-	return NULL; /* Keep compiler happy (not reachable) */
-#else
 	PyObject* utf8 = NULL;
 	PyObject* buf = tok->decoding_buffer;
 	char *str;
@@ -407,7 +394,6 @@
 	Py_DECREF(utf8);
 	if (utf8len == 0) return NULL; /* EOF */
 	return s;
-#endif
 }
 
 /* Set the readline function for TOK to a StreamReader's
@@ -564,7 +550,6 @@
 /* Return a UTF-8 encoding Python string object from the
    C byte string STR, which is encoded with ENC. */
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 static PyObject *
 translate_into_utf8(const char* str, const char* enc) {
 	PyObject *utf8;
@@ -575,7 +560,6 @@
 	Py_DECREF(buf);
 	return utf8;
 }
-#endif
 
 /* Decode a byte string STR for use as the buffer of TOK.
    Look for encoding declarations inside STR, and record them
@@ -593,14 +577,12 @@
 		return error_ret(tok);
 	str = tok->str;		/* string after BOM if any */
 	assert(str);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (tok->enc != NULL) {
 		utf8 = translate_into_utf8(str, tok->enc);
 		if (utf8 == NULL)
 			return error_ret(tok);
 		str = PyString_AsString(utf8);
 	}
-#endif
 	for (s = str;; s++) {
 		if (*s == '\0') break;
 		else if (*s == '\n') {
@@ -611,7 +593,6 @@
 	tok->enc = NULL;
 	if (!check_coding_spec(str, s - str, tok, buf_setreadl))
 		return error_ret(tok);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (tok->enc != NULL) {
 		assert(utf8 == NULL);
 		utf8 = translate_into_utf8(str, tok->enc);
@@ -622,7 +603,6 @@
 		}
 		str = PyString_AsString(utf8);
 	}
-#endif
 	assert(tok->decoding_buffer == NULL);
 	tok->decoding_buffer = utf8; /* CAUTION */
 	return str;
@@ -687,7 +667,7 @@
 	PyMem_FREE(tok);
 }
 
-#if !defined(PGEN) && defined(Py_USING_UNICODE)
+#if !defined(PGEN)
 static int
 tok_stdin_decode(struct tok_state *tok, char **inp)
 {
@@ -786,7 +766,7 @@
 				PyMem_FREE(newtok);
 				tok->done = E_EOF;
 			}
-#if !defined(PGEN) && defined(Py_USING_UNICODE)
+#if !defined(PGEN)
 			else if (tok_stdin_decode(tok, &newtok) != 0)
 				PyMem_FREE(newtok);
 #endif
diff --git a/Python/ast.c b/Python/ast.c
index d7e3b36..821a5ad 100644
--- a/Python/ast.c
+++ b/Python/ast.c
@@ -3050,10 +3050,6 @@
 static PyObject *
 decode_utf8(const char **sPtr, const char *end, char* encoding)
 {
-#ifndef Py_USING_UNICODE
-    Py_FatalError("decode_utf8 should not be called in this build.");
-    return NULL;
-#else
     PyObject *u, *v;
     char *s, *t;
     t = s = (char *)*sPtr;
@@ -3066,7 +3062,6 @@
     v = PyUnicode_AsEncodedString(u, encoding, NULL);
     Py_DECREF(u);
     return v;
-#endif
 }
 
 static PyObject *
@@ -3186,11 +3181,9 @@
             return NULL;
         }
     }
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
     if (!*bytesmode) {
         return decode_unicode(s, len, rawmode, encoding);
     }
-#endif
     if (*bytesmode) {
         /* Disallow non-ascii characters (but not escapes) */
         const char *c;
@@ -3207,19 +3200,12 @@
                      strcmp(encoding, "iso-8859-1") != 0);
     if (rawmode || strchr(s, '\\') == NULL) {
         if (need_encoding) {
-#ifndef Py_USING_UNICODE
-            /* This should not happen - we never see any other
-               encoding. */
-            Py_FatalError(
-                "cannot deal with encodings in this build.");
-#else
             PyObject *v, *u = PyUnicode_DecodeUTF8(s, len, NULL);
             if (u == NULL)
                 return NULL;
             v = PyUnicode_AsEncodedString(u, encoding, NULL);
             Py_DECREF(u);
             return v;
-#endif
         } else {
             return PyString_FromStringAndSize(s, len);
         }
@@ -3258,7 +3244,6 @@
                 if (v == NULL)
                     goto onError;
             }
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
             else {
                 PyObject *temp = PyUnicode_Concat(v, s);
                 Py_DECREF(s);
@@ -3267,7 +3252,6 @@
                 if (v == NULL)
                     goto onError;
             }
-#endif
         }
     }
     return v;
diff --git a/Python/bltinmodule.c b/Python/bltinmodule.c
index f58dd80..828cb5d 100644
--- a/Python/bltinmodule.c
+++ b/Python/bltinmodule.c
@@ -25,9 +25,7 @@
 
 /* Forward */
 static PyObject *filterstring(PyObject *, PyObject *);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 static PyObject *filterunicode(PyObject *, PyObject *);
-#endif
 static PyObject *filtertuple (PyObject *, PyObject *);
 
 static PyObject *
@@ -272,10 +270,8 @@
 	/* Strings and tuples return a result of the same type. */
 	if (PyString_Check(seq))
 		return filterstring(func, seq);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (PyUnicode_Check(seq))
 		return filterunicode(func, seq);
-#endif
 	if (PyTuple_Check(seq))
 		return filtertuple(func, seq);
 
@@ -381,7 +377,6 @@
 "or string, return the same type, else return a list.");
 
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 static PyObject *
 builtin_unichr(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
@@ -397,7 +392,6 @@
 "chr(i) -> Unicode character\n\
 \n\
 Return a Unicode string of one character with ordinal i; 0 <= i <= 0x10ffff.");
-#endif
 
 
 static PyObject *
@@ -440,7 +434,6 @@
 
 	cf.cf_flags = supplied_flags;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (PyUnicode_Check(cmd)) {
 		tmp = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(cmd);
 		if (tmp == NULL)
@@ -448,7 +441,6 @@
 		cmd = tmp;
 		cf.cf_flags |= PyCF_SOURCE_IS_UTF8;
 	}
-#endif
 	if (PyObject_AsReadBuffer(cmd, (const void **)&str, &length))
 		return NULL;
 	if ((size_t)length != strlen(str)) {
@@ -600,7 +592,6 @@
 	}
 	cf.cf_flags = 0;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (PyUnicode_Check(cmd)) {
 		tmp = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(cmd);
 		if (tmp == NULL)
@@ -608,7 +599,6 @@
 		cmd = tmp;
 		cf.cf_flags |= PyCF_SOURCE_IS_UTF8;
 	}
-#endif
 	if (PyString_AsStringAndSize(cmd, &str, NULL)) {
 		Py_XDECREF(tmp);
 		return NULL;
@@ -708,7 +698,6 @@
 		char *str;
 		PyCompilerFlags cf;
 		cf.cf_flags = 0;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		if (PyUnicode_Check(prog)) {
 			tmp = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(prog);
 			if (tmp == NULL)
@@ -716,7 +705,6 @@
 			prog = tmp;
 			cf.cf_flags |= PyCF_SOURCE_IS_UTF8;
 		}
-#endif
 		if (PyString_AsStringAndSize(prog, &str, NULL))
 			return NULL;
 		if (PyEval_MergeCompilerFlags(&cf))
@@ -850,13 +838,11 @@
 
 	if (!PyArg_UnpackTuple(args, "getattr", 2, 3, &v, &name, &dflt))
 		return NULL;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (PyUnicode_Check(name)) {
 		name = _PyUnicode_AsDefaultEncodedString(name, NULL);
 		if (name == NULL)
 			return NULL;
 	}
-#endif
 
 	if (!PyString_Check(name)) {
 		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
@@ -906,13 +892,11 @@
 
 	if (!PyArg_UnpackTuple(args, "hasattr", 2, 2, &v, &name))
 		return NULL;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	if (PyUnicode_Check(name)) {
 		name = _PyUnicode_AsDefaultEncodedString(name, NULL);
 		if (name == NULL)
 			return NULL;
 	}
-#endif
 
 	if (!PyString_Check(name)) {
 		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
@@ -1471,7 +1455,6 @@
 			ord = (long)((unsigned char)*PyString_AS_STRING(obj));
 			return PyInt_FromLong(ord);
 		}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	}
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(obj)) {
 		size = PyUnicode_GET_SIZE(obj);
@@ -1479,7 +1462,6 @@
 			ord = (long)*PyUnicode_AS_UNICODE(obj);
 			return PyInt_FromLong(ord);
 		}
-#endif
 	} 
 	else if (PyBytes_Check(obj)) {
 		/* XXX Hopefully this is temporary */
@@ -2356,9 +2338,7 @@
 	SETBUILTIN("tuple",		&PyTuple_Type);
 	SETBUILTIN("type",		&PyType_Type);
 	SETBUILTIN("xrange",		&PyRange_Type);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	SETBUILTIN("unicode",		&PyUnicode_Type);
-#endif
 	debug = PyBool_FromLong(Py_OptimizeFlag == 0);
 	if (PyDict_SetItemString(dict, "__debug__", debug) < 0) {
 		Py_XDECREF(debug);
@@ -2536,7 +2516,6 @@
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 /* Helper for filter(): filter a Unicode object through a function */
 
 static PyObject *
@@ -2630,4 +2609,3 @@
 	Py_DECREF(result);
 	return NULL;
 }
-#endif
diff --git a/Python/codecs.c b/Python/codecs.c
index 4b0f4cb..ddd1935 100644
--- a/Python/codecs.c
+++ b/Python/codecs.c
@@ -468,7 +468,6 @@
 }
 
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 PyObject *PyCodec_IgnoreErrors(PyObject *exc)
 {
     Py_ssize_t end;
@@ -729,7 +728,6 @@
 	return NULL;
     }
 }
-#endif
 
 static PyObject *strict_errors(PyObject *self, PyObject *exc)
 {
@@ -737,7 +735,6 @@
 }
 
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 static PyObject *ignore_errors(PyObject *self, PyObject *exc)
 {
     return PyCodec_IgnoreErrors(exc);
@@ -760,7 +757,6 @@
 {
     return PyCodec_BackslashReplaceErrors(exc);
 }
-#endif
 
 static int _PyCodecRegistry_Init(void)
 {
@@ -777,7 +773,6 @@
 		METH_O
 	    }
 	},
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	{
 	    "ignore",
 	    {
@@ -810,7 +805,6 @@
 		METH_O
 	    }
 	}
-#endif
     };
 
     PyInterpreterState *interp = PyThreadState_GET()->interp;
diff --git a/Python/getargs.c b/Python/getargs.c
index 3b58c98..2a02a89 100644
--- a/Python/getargs.c
+++ b/Python/getargs.c
@@ -547,9 +547,7 @@
 
 	const char *format = *p_format;
 	char c = *format++;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	PyObject *uarg;
-#endif
 	
 	switch (c) {
 	
@@ -780,7 +778,6 @@
 				*p = PyString_AS_STRING(arg);
 				STORE_SIZE(PyString_GET_SIZE(arg));
 			}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 			else if (PyUnicode_Check(arg)) {
 				uarg = UNICODE_DEFAULT_ENCODING(arg);
 				if (uarg == NULL)
@@ -789,7 +786,6 @@
 				*p = PyString_AS_STRING(uarg);
 				STORE_SIZE(PyString_GET_SIZE(uarg));
 			}
-#endif
 			else { /* any buffer-like object */
 				char *buf;
 				Py_ssize_t count = convertbuffer(arg, p, &buf);
@@ -803,7 +799,6 @@
 			
 			if (PyString_Check(arg))
 				*p = PyString_AS_STRING(arg);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 			else if (PyUnicode_Check(arg)) {
 				uarg = UNICODE_DEFAULT_ENCODING(arg);
 				if (uarg == NULL)
@@ -811,7 +806,6 @@
 							  arg, msgbuf, bufsize);
 				*p = PyString_AS_STRING(uarg);
 			}
-#endif
 			else
 				return converterr("string", arg, msgbuf, bufsize);
 			if ((Py_ssize_t)strlen(*p) != PyString_Size(arg))
@@ -834,7 +828,6 @@
 				*p = PyString_AS_STRING(arg);
 				STORE_SIZE(PyString_GET_SIZE(arg));
 			}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 			else if (PyUnicode_Check(arg)) {
 				uarg = UNICODE_DEFAULT_ENCODING(arg);
 				if (uarg == NULL)
@@ -843,7 +836,6 @@
 				*p = PyString_AS_STRING(uarg);
 				STORE_SIZE(PyString_GET_SIZE(uarg));
 			}
-#endif
 			else { /* any buffer-like object */
 				char *buf;
 				Py_ssize_t count = convertbuffer(arg, p, &buf);
@@ -859,7 +851,6 @@
 				*p = 0;
 			else if (PyString_Check(arg))
 				*p = PyString_AS_STRING(arg);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 			else if (PyUnicode_Check(arg)) {
 				uarg = UNICODE_DEFAULT_ENCODING(arg);
 				if (uarg == NULL)
@@ -867,7 +858,6 @@
 							  arg, msgbuf, bufsize);
 				*p = PyString_AS_STRING(uarg);
 			}
-#endif
 			else
 				return converterr("string or None", 
 						  arg, msgbuf, bufsize);
@@ -897,10 +887,8 @@
 
 		/* Get 'e' parameter: the encoding name */
 		encoding = (const char *)va_arg(*p_va, const char *);
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		if (encoding == NULL)
 			encoding = PyUnicode_GetDefaultEncoding();
-#endif
 			
 		/* Get output buffer parameter:
 		   's' (recode all objects via Unicode) or
@@ -926,7 +914,6 @@
 			Py_INCREF(s);
 		}
 		else {
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		    	PyObject *u;
 
 			/* Convert object to Unicode */
@@ -950,9 +937,6 @@
 					"(encoder failed to return a string)",
 					arg, msgbuf, bufsize);
 			}
-#else
-			return converterr("string<e>", arg, msgbuf, bufsize);
-#endif
 		}
 		size = PyString_GET_SIZE(s);
 
@@ -1054,7 +1038,6 @@
 		break;
 	}
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	case 'u': {/* raw unicode buffer (Py_UNICODE *) */
 		if (*format == '#') { /* any buffer-like object */
 			void **p = (void **)va_arg(*p_va, char **);
@@ -1077,7 +1060,6 @@
 		}
 		break;
 	}
-#endif
 
 	case 'S': { /* string object */
 		PyObject **p = va_arg(*p_va, PyObject **);
@@ -1088,7 +1070,6 @@
 		break;
 	}
 	
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	case 'U': { /* Unicode object */
 		PyObject **p = va_arg(*p_va, PyObject **);
 		if (PyUnicode_Check(arg))
@@ -1097,7 +1078,6 @@
 			return converterr("unicode", arg, msgbuf, bufsize);
 		break;
 	}
-#endif
 	
 	case 'O': { /* object */
 		PyTypeObject *type;
@@ -1611,9 +1591,7 @@
 	
 	case 's': /* string */
 	case 'z': /* string or None */
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	case 'u': /* unicode string */
-#endif
 	case 't': /* buffer, read-only */
 	case 'w': /* buffer, read-write */
 		{
@@ -1631,9 +1609,7 @@
 	/* object codes */
 
 	case 'S': /* string object */
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	case 'U': /* unicode string object */
-#endif
 		{
 			(void) va_arg(*p_va, PyObject **);
 			break;
diff --git a/Python/import.c b/Python/import.c
index 6d742b9..7e3d2f4 100644
--- a/Python/import.c
+++ b/Python/import.c
@@ -1256,7 +1256,6 @@
 		PyObject *v = PyList_GetItem(path, i);
 		if (!v)
 			return NULL;
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		if (PyUnicode_Check(v)) {
 			copy = PyUnicode_Encode(PyUnicode_AS_UNICODE(v),
 				PyUnicode_GET_SIZE(v), Py_FileSystemDefaultEncoding, NULL);
@@ -1265,7 +1264,6 @@
 			v = copy;
 		}
 		else
-#endif
 		if (!PyString_Check(v))
 			continue;
 		len = PyString_GET_SIZE(v);
diff --git a/Python/marshal.c b/Python/marshal.c
index 2fb47e7..94d73a0 100644
--- a/Python/marshal.c
+++ b/Python/marshal.c
@@ -254,7 +254,6 @@
 		w_long((long)n, p);
 		w_string(PyString_AS_STRING(v), (int)n, p);
 	}
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	else if (PyUnicode_Check(v)) {
 	        PyObject *utf8;
 		utf8 = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(v);
@@ -274,7 +273,6 @@
 		w_string(PyString_AS_STRING(utf8), (int)n, p);
 		Py_DECREF(utf8);
 	}
-#endif
 	else if (PyTuple_Check(v)) {
 		w_byte(TYPE_TUPLE, p);
 		n = PyTuple_Size(v);
@@ -678,7 +676,6 @@
 		Py_INCREF(v);
 		return v;
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	case TYPE_UNICODE:
 	    {
 		char *buffer;
@@ -701,7 +698,6 @@
 		PyMem_DEL(buffer);
 		return v;
 	    }
-#endif
 
 	case TYPE_TUPLE:
 		n = r_long(p);
diff --git a/Python/modsupport.c b/Python/modsupport.c
index 1aa3df2..af774f0 100644
--- a/Python/modsupport.c
+++ b/Python/modsupport.c
@@ -240,7 +240,6 @@
 	return v;
 }
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 static int
 _ustrlen(Py_UNICODE *u)
 {
@@ -249,7 +248,6 @@
 	while (*v != 0) { i++; v++; } 
 	return i;
 }
-#endif
 
 static PyObject *
 do_mktuple(const char **p_format, va_list *p_va, int endchar, int n, int flags)
@@ -349,7 +347,6 @@
 		case 'K':
 			return PyLong_FromUnsignedLongLong((PY_LONG_LONG)va_arg(*p_va, unsigned PY_LONG_LONG));
 #endif
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 		case 'u':
 		{
 			PyObject *v;
@@ -375,7 +372,6 @@
 			}
 			return v;
 		}
-#endif
 		case 'f':
 		case 'd':
 			return PyFloat_FromDouble(
diff --git a/Python/pythonrun.c b/Python/pythonrun.c
index 3d16ba5..c2005f1 100644
--- a/Python/pythonrun.c
+++ b/Python/pythonrun.c
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@
 	PyThreadState *tstate;
 	PyObject *bimod, *sysmod;
 	char *p;
-#if defined(Py_USING_UNICODE) && defined(HAVE_LANGINFO_H) && defined(CODESET)
+#if defined(HAVE_LANGINFO_H) && defined(CODESET)
 	char *codeset;
 	char *saved_locale;
 	PyObject *sys_stream, *sys_isatty;
@@ -199,10 +199,8 @@
 	if (interp->modules_reloading == NULL)
 		Py_FatalError("Py_Initialize: can't make modules_reloading dictionary");
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	/* Init Unicode implementation; relies on the codec registry */
 	_PyUnicode_Init();
-#endif
 
 	bimod = _PyBuiltin_Init();
 	if (bimod == NULL)
@@ -250,7 +248,7 @@
 	if (!warnings_module)
 		PyErr_Clear();
 
-#if defined(Py_USING_UNICODE) && defined(HAVE_LANGINFO_H) && defined(CODESET)
+#if defined(HAVE_LANGINFO_H) && defined(CODESET)
 	/* On Unix, set the file system encoding according to the
 	   user's preference, if the CODESET names a well-known
 	   Python codec, and Py_FileSystemDefaultEncoding isn't
@@ -468,10 +466,8 @@
 	PyLong_Fini();
 	PyFloat_Fini();
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	/* Cleanup Unicode implementation */
 	_PyUnicode_Fini();
-#endif
 
 	/* XXX Still allocated:
 	   - various static ad-hoc pointers to interned strings
diff --git a/Python/sysmodule.c b/Python/sysmodule.c
index 0d4a4e3..247ec05 100644
--- a/Python/sysmodule.c
+++ b/Python/sysmodule.c
@@ -210,7 +210,6 @@
 exit status will be one (i.e., failure)."
 );
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 
 static PyObject *
 sys_getdefaultencoding(PyObject *self)
@@ -259,7 +258,6 @@
 operating system filenames."
 );
 
-#endif
 
 
 static PyObject *
@@ -763,10 +761,8 @@
 	{"exc_clear",	sys_exc_clear, METH_NOARGS, exc_clear_doc},
 	{"excepthook",	sys_excepthook, METH_VARARGS, excepthook_doc},
 	{"exit",	sys_exit, METH_VARARGS, exit_doc},
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	{"getdefaultencoding", (PyCFunction)sys_getdefaultencoding,
 	 METH_NOARGS, getdefaultencoding_doc},
-#endif
 #ifdef HAVE_DLOPEN
 	{"getdlopenflags", (PyCFunction)sys_getdlopenflags, METH_NOARGS,
 	 getdlopenflags_doc},
@@ -777,10 +773,8 @@
 #ifdef DYNAMIC_EXECUTION_PROFILE
 	{"getdxp",	_Py_GetDXProfile, METH_VARARGS},
 #endif
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	{"getfilesystemencoding", (PyCFunction)sys_getfilesystemencoding,
 	 METH_NOARGS, getfilesystemencoding_doc},
-#endif
 #ifdef Py_TRACE_REFS
 	{"getobjects",	_Py_GetObjects, METH_VARARGS},
 #endif
@@ -799,10 +793,8 @@
 #ifdef USE_MALLOPT
 	{"mdebug",	sys_mdebug, METH_VARARGS},
 #endif
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	{"setdefaultencoding", sys_setdefaultencoding, METH_VARARGS,
 	 setdefaultencoding_doc},
-#endif
 	{"setcheckinterval",	sys_setcheckinterval, METH_VARARGS,
 	 setcheckinterval_doc},
 	{"getcheckinterval",	sys_getcheckinterval, METH_NOARGS,
@@ -1184,10 +1176,8 @@
 		   	    PyString_FromString(Py_GetExecPrefix()));
 	SET_SYS_FROM_STRING("maxint",
 			    PyInt_FromLong(PyInt_GetMax()));
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 	SET_SYS_FROM_STRING("maxunicode",
 			    PyInt_FromLong(PyUnicode_GetMax()));
-#endif
 	SET_SYS_FROM_STRING("builtin_module_names",
 			    list_builtin_module_names());
 	{
diff --git a/RISCOS/pyconfig.h b/RISCOS/pyconfig.h
index 9a34d41..d9b89cc 100644
--- a/RISCOS/pyconfig.h
+++ b/RISCOS/pyconfig.h
@@ -168,9 +168,6 @@
 /* This must be defined on some systems to enable large file support */
 #undef _LARGEFILE_SOURCE
 
-/* Define if you want to have a Unicode type. */
-#define Py_USING_UNICODE 1
-
 /* Define as the integral type used for Unicode representation. */
 #define PY_UNICODE_TYPE unsigned short