diff --git a/Python/bltinmodule.c b/Python/bltinmodule.c
index 683eec0..3acd0e2 100644
--- a/Python/bltinmodule.c
+++ b/Python/bltinmodule.c
@@ -1928,6 +1928,23 @@
 
 
 static PyObject *
+builtin_unistr(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
+{
+	PyObject *v;
+
+	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "O:unistr", &v))
+		return NULL;
+	return PyObject_Unicode(v);
+}
+
+static char unistr_doc[] =
+"unistr(object) -> unicode\n\
+\n\
+Return a nice unicode representation of the object.\n\
+If the argument is a unicode, the return value is the same object.";
+
+
+static PyObject *
 builtin_tuple(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
 	PyObject *v;
@@ -2242,6 +2259,7 @@
 	{"type",	builtin_type, 1, type_doc},
 	{"unicode",	builtin_unicode, 1, unicode_doc},
 	{"unichr",	builtin_unichr, 1, unichr_doc},
+	{"unistr",	builtin_unistr, 1, unistr_doc},
 	{"vars",	builtin_vars, 1, vars_doc},
 	{"xrange",	builtin_xrange, 1, xrange_doc},
  	{"zip",         builtin_zip, 1, zip_doc},