diff --git a/Objects/abstract.c b/Objects/abstract.c
index 3d736d1..e848f8f 100644
--- a/Objects/abstract.c
+++ b/Objects/abstract.c
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@
 				"expected an object with the buffer interface");
 		return -1;
 	}
-	if ((*pb->bf_getbuffer)(obj, &view, PyBUF_CHARACTER)) return -1;
+	if ((*pb->bf_getbuffer)(obj, &view, PyBUF_SIMPLE)) return -1;
 
 	*buffer = view.buf;
 	*buffer_len = view.len;
diff --git a/Objects/unicodeobject.c b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
index e622967..73aeec4 100644
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
@@ -8117,10 +8117,6 @@
 unicode_buffer_getbuffer(PyUnicodeObject *self, Py_buffer *view, int flags)
 {
 
-    if (flags & PyBUF_CHARACTER) {
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_SystemError, "can't use str as char buffer");
-        return -1;
-    }
     return PyBuffer_FillInfo(view, (void *)self->str,
                              PyUnicode_GET_DATA_SIZE(self), 1, flags);
 }