diff --git a/Doc/library/gettext.rst b/Doc/library/gettext.rst
index 3a87bf5..053d9d3 100644
--- a/Doc/library/gettext.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/gettext.rst
@@ -48,9 +48,10 @@
 
 .. function:: bind_textdomain_codeset(domain, codeset=None)
 
-   Bind the *domain* to *codeset*, changing the encoding of strings returned by the
-   :func:`gettext` family of functions. If *codeset* is omitted, then the current
-   binding is returned.
+   Bind the *domain* to *codeset*, changing the encoding of byte strings
+   returned by the :func:`lgettext`, :func:`ldgettext`, :func:`lngettext`
+   and :func:`ldngettext` functions.
+   If *codeset* is omitted, then the current binding is returned.
 
 
 .. function:: textdomain(domain=None)
@@ -67,28 +68,14 @@
    :func:`_` in the local namespace (see examples below).
 
 
-.. function:: lgettext(message)
-
-   Equivalent to :func:`gettext`, but the translation is returned in the
-   preferred system encoding, if no other encoding was explicitly set with
-   :func:`bind_textdomain_codeset`.
-
-
 .. function:: dgettext(domain, message)
 
-   Like :func:`gettext`, but look the message up in the specified *domain*.
-
-
-.. function:: ldgettext(domain, message)
-
-   Equivalent to :func:`dgettext`, but the translation is returned in the
-   preferred system encoding, if no other encoding was explicitly set with
-   :func:`bind_textdomain_codeset`.
+   Like :func:`.gettext`, but look the message up in the specified *domain*.
 
 
 .. function:: ngettext(singular, plural, n)
 
-   Like :func:`gettext`, but consider plural forms. If a translation is found,
+   Like :func:`.gettext`, but consider plural forms. If a translation is found,
    apply the plural formula to *n*, and return the resulting message (some
    languages have more than two plural forms). If no translation is found, return
    *singular* if *n* is 1; return *plural* otherwise.
@@ -101,24 +88,33 @@
    formulas for a variety of languages.
 
 
-.. function:: lngettext(singular, plural, n)
-
-   Equivalent to :func:`ngettext`, but the translation is returned in the
-   preferred system encoding, if no other encoding was explicitly set with
-   :func:`bind_textdomain_codeset`.
-
-
 .. function:: dngettext(domain, singular, plural, n)
 
    Like :func:`ngettext`, but look the message up in the specified *domain*.
 
 
+.. function:: lgettext(message)
+.. function:: ldgettext(domain, message)
+.. function:: lngettext(singular, plural, n)
 .. function:: ldngettext(domain, singular, plural, n)
 
-   Equivalent to :func:`dngettext`, but the translation is returned in the
-   preferred system encoding, if no other encoding was explicitly set with
+   Equivalent to the corresponding functions without the ``l`` prefix
+   (:func:`.gettext`, :func:`dgettext`, :func:`ngettext` and :func:`dngettext`),
+   but the translation is returned as a byte string encoded in the preferred
+   system encoding if no other encoding was explicitly set with
    :func:`bind_textdomain_codeset`.
 
+   .. warning::
+
+      These functions should be avoided in Python 3, because they return
+      encoded bytes.  It's much better to use alternatives which return
+      Unicode strings instead, since most Python applications will want to
+      manipulate human readable text as strings instead of bytes.  Further,
+      it's possible that you may get unexpected Unicode-related exceptions
+      if there are encoding problems with the translated strings.  It is
+      possible that the ``l*()`` functions will be deprecated in future Python
+      versions due to their inherent problems and limitations.
+
 
 Note that GNU :program:`gettext` also defines a :func:`dcgettext` method, but
 this was deemed not useful and so it is currently unimplemented.
@@ -179,8 +175,9 @@
    names are cached.  The actual class instantiated is either *class_* if
    provided, otherwise :class:`GNUTranslations`.  The class's constructor must
    take a single :term:`file object` argument.  If provided, *codeset* will change
-   the charset used to encode translated strings in the :meth:`lgettext` and
-   :meth:`lngettext` methods.
+   the charset used to encode translated strings in the
+   :meth:`~NullTranslations.lgettext` and :meth:`~NullTranslations.lngettext`
+   methods.
 
    If multiple files are found, later files are used as fallbacks for earlier ones.
    To allow setting the fallback, :func:`copy.copy` is used to clone each
@@ -250,26 +247,29 @@
 
    .. method:: gettext(message)
 
-      If a fallback has been set, forward :meth:`gettext` to the fallback.
-      Otherwise, return the translated message.  Overridden in derived classes.
-
-
-   .. method:: lgettext(message)
-
-      If a fallback has been set, forward :meth:`lgettext` to the fallback.
-      Otherwise, return the translated message.  Overridden in derived classes.
+      If a fallback has been set, forward :meth:`.gettext` to the fallback.
+      Otherwise, return *message*.  Overridden in derived classes.
 
 
    .. method:: ngettext(singular, plural, n)
 
       If a fallback has been set, forward :meth:`ngettext` to the fallback.
-      Otherwise, return the translated message.  Overridden in derived classes.
+      Otherwise, return *singular* if *n* is 1; return *plural* otherwise.
+      Overridden in derived classes.
 
 
+   .. method:: lgettext(message)
    .. method:: lngettext(singular, plural, n)
 
-      If a fallback has been set, forward :meth:`lngettext` to the fallback.
-      Otherwise, return the translated message.  Overridden in derived classes.
+      Equivalent to :meth:`.gettext` and :meth:`ngettext`, but the translation
+      is returned as a byte string encoded in the preferred system encoding
+      if no encoding was explicitly set with :meth:`set_output_charset`.
+      Overridden in derived classes.
+
+      .. warning::
+
+         These methods should be avoided in Python 3.  See the warning for the
+         :func:`lgettext` function.
 
 
    .. method:: info()
@@ -279,32 +279,28 @@
 
    .. method:: charset()
 
-      Return the "protected" :attr:`_charset` variable, which is the encoding of
-      the message catalog file.
+      Return the encoding of the message catalog file.
 
 
    .. method:: output_charset()
 
-      Return the "protected" :attr:`_output_charset` variable, which defines the
-      encoding used to return translated messages in :meth:`lgettext` and
-      :meth:`lngettext`.
+      Return the encoding used to return translated messages in :meth:`.lgettext`
+      and :meth:`.lngettext`.
 
 
    .. method:: set_output_charset(charset)
 
-      Change the "protected" :attr:`_output_charset` variable, which defines the
-      encoding used to return translated messages.
+      Change the encoding used to return translated messages.
 
 
    .. method:: install(names=None)
 
-      This method installs :meth:`self.gettext` into the built-in namespace,
+      This method installs :meth:`.gettext` into the built-in namespace,
       binding it to ``_``.
 
       If the *names* parameter is given, it must be a sequence containing the
       names of functions you want to install in the builtins namespace in
-      addition to :func:`_`.  Supported names are ``'gettext'`` (bound to
-      :meth:`self.gettext`), ``'ngettext'`` (bound to :meth:`self.ngettext`),
+      addition to :func:`_`.  Supported names are ``'gettext'``, ``'ngettext'``,
       ``'lgettext'`` and ``'lngettext'``.
 
       Note that this is only one way, albeit the most convenient way, to make
@@ -349,49 +345,52 @@
 unexpected, or if other problems occur while reading the file, instantiating a
 :class:`GNUTranslations` class can raise :exc:`OSError`.
 
-The following methods are overridden from the base class implementation:
+.. class:: GNUTranslations
+
+   The following methods are overridden from the base class implementation:
+
+   .. method:: gettext(message)
+
+      Look up the *message* id in the catalog and return the corresponding message
+      string, as a Unicode string.  If there is no entry in the catalog for the
+      *message* id, and a fallback has been set, the look up is forwarded to the
+      fallback's :meth:`~NullTranslations.gettext` method.  Otherwise, the
+      *message* id is returned.
 
 
-.. method:: GNUTranslations.gettext(message)
+   .. method:: ngettext(singular, plural, n)
 
-   Look up the *message* id in the catalog and return the corresponding message
-   string, as a Unicode string.  If there is no entry in the catalog for the
-   *message* id, and a fallback has been set, the look up is forwarded to the
-   fallback's :meth:`gettext` method.  Otherwise, the *message* id is returned.
+      Do a plural-forms lookup of a message id.  *singular* is used as the message id
+      for purposes of lookup in the catalog, while *n* is used to determine which
+      plural form to use.  The returned message string is a Unicode string.
+
+      If the message id is not found in the catalog, and a fallback is specified,
+      the request is forwarded to the fallback's :meth:`~NullTranslations.ngettext`
+      method.  Otherwise, when *n* is 1 *singular* is returned, and *plural* is
+      returned in all other cases.
+
+      Here is an example::
+
+         n = len(os.listdir('.'))
+         cat = GNUTranslations(somefile)
+         message = cat.ngettext(
+             'There is %(num)d file in this directory',
+             'There are %(num)d files in this directory',
+             n) % {'num': n}
 
 
-.. method:: GNUTranslations.lgettext(message)
+   .. method:: lgettext(message)
+   .. method:: lngettext(singular, plural, n)
 
-   Equivalent to :meth:`gettext`, but the translation is returned as a
-   bytestring encoded in the selected output charset, or in the preferred system
-   encoding if no encoding was explicitly set with :meth:`set_output_charset`.
+      Equivalent to :meth:`.gettext` and :meth:`.ngettext`, but the translation
+      is returned as a byte string encoded in the preferred system encoding
+      if no encoding  was explicitly set with
+      :meth:`~NullTranslations.set_output_charset`.
 
+      .. warning::
 
-.. method:: GNUTranslations.ngettext(singular, plural, n)
-
-   Do a plural-forms lookup of a message id.  *singular* is used as the message id
-   for purposes of lookup in the catalog, while *n* is used to determine which
-   plural form to use.  The returned message string is a Unicode string.
-
-   If the message id is not found in the catalog, and a fallback is specified, the
-   request is forwarded to the fallback's :meth:`ngettext` method.  Otherwise, when
-   *n* is 1 *singular* is returned, and *plural* is returned in all other cases.
-
-   Here is an example::
-
-      n = len(os.listdir('.'))
-      cat = GNUTranslations(somefile)
-      message = cat.ngettext(
-          'There is %(num)d file in this directory',
-          'There are %(num)d files in this directory',
-          n) % {'num': n}
-
-
-.. method:: GNUTranslations.lngettext(singular, plural, n)
-
-   Equivalent to :meth:`gettext`, but the translation is returned as a
-   bytestring encoded in the selected output charset, or in the preferred system
-   encoding if no encoding was explicitly set with :meth:`set_output_charset`.
+         These methods should be avoided in Python 3.  See the warning for the
+         :func:`lgettext` function.
 
 
 Solaris message catalog support
@@ -509,7 +508,7 @@
 
    import gettext
    t = gettext.translation('spam', '/usr/share/locale')
-   _ = t.lgettext
+   _ = t.gettext
 
 
 Localizing your application
diff --git a/Lib/gettext.py b/Lib/gettext.py
index 08d051b..5ad7ff6 100644
--- a/Lib/gettext.py
+++ b/Lib/gettext.py
@@ -279,7 +279,9 @@
     def lgettext(self, message):
         if self._fallback:
             return self._fallback.lgettext(message)
-        return message
+        if self._output_charset:
+            return message.encode(self._output_charset)
+        return message.encode(locale.getpreferredencoding())
 
     def ngettext(self, msgid1, msgid2, n):
         if self._fallback:
@@ -293,9 +295,12 @@
         if self._fallback:
             return self._fallback.lngettext(msgid1, msgid2, n)
         if n == 1:
-            return msgid1
+            tmsg = msgid1
         else:
-            return msgid2
+            tmsg = msgid2
+        if self._output_charset:
+            return tmsg.encode(self._output_charset)
+        return tmsg.encode(locale.getpreferredencoding())
 
     def info(self):
         return self._info
@@ -377,7 +382,7 @@
             if mlen == 0:
                 # Catalog description
                 lastk = None
-                for b_item in tmsg.split('\n'.encode("ascii")):
+                for b_item in tmsg.split(b'\n'):
                     item = b_item.decode().strip()
                     if not item:
                         continue
@@ -425,7 +430,7 @@
         if tmsg is missing:
             if self._fallback:
                 return self._fallback.lgettext(message)
-            return message
+            tmsg = message
         if self._output_charset:
             return tmsg.encode(self._output_charset)
         return tmsg.encode(locale.getpreferredencoding())
@@ -433,16 +438,16 @@
     def lngettext(self, msgid1, msgid2, n):
         try:
             tmsg = self._catalog[(msgid1, self.plural(n))]
-            if self._output_charset:
-                return tmsg.encode(self._output_charset)
-            return tmsg.encode(locale.getpreferredencoding())
         except KeyError:
             if self._fallback:
                 return self._fallback.lngettext(msgid1, msgid2, n)
             if n == 1:
-                return msgid1
+                tmsg = msgid1
             else:
-                return msgid2
+                tmsg = msgid2
+        if self._output_charset:
+            return tmsg.encode(self._output_charset)
+        return tmsg.encode(locale.getpreferredencoding())
 
     def gettext(self, message):
         missing = object()
@@ -582,11 +587,11 @@
     return t.gettext(message)
 
 def ldgettext(domain, message):
+    codeset = _localecodesets.get(domain)
     try:
-        t = translation(domain, _localedirs.get(domain, None),
-                        codeset=_localecodesets.get(domain))
+        t = translation(domain, _localedirs.get(domain, None), codeset=codeset)
     except OSError:
-        return message
+        return message.encode(codeset or locale.getpreferredencoding())
     return t.lgettext(message)
 
 def dngettext(domain, msgid1, msgid2, n):
@@ -601,14 +606,15 @@
     return t.ngettext(msgid1, msgid2, n)
 
 def ldngettext(domain, msgid1, msgid2, n):
+    codeset = _localecodesets.get(domain)
     try:
-        t = translation(domain, _localedirs.get(domain, None),
-                        codeset=_localecodesets.get(domain))
+        t = translation(domain, _localedirs.get(domain, None), codeset=codeset)
     except OSError:
         if n == 1:
-            return msgid1
+            tmsg = msgid1
         else:
-            return msgid2
+            tmsg = msgid2
+        return tmsg.encode(codeset or locale.getpreferredencoding())
     return t.lngettext(msgid1, msgid2, n)
 
 def gettext(message):
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_gettext.py b/Lib/test/test_gettext.py
index 7bfe747..b5ed05e 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_gettext.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_gettext.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import os
 import base64
 import gettext
+import locale
 import unittest
 
 from test import support
@@ -455,6 +456,122 @@
         self.assertRaises(TypeError, f, object())
 
 
+class LGettextTestCase(GettextBaseTest):
+    def setUp(self):
+        GettextBaseTest.setUp(self)
+        self.mofile = MOFILE
+
+    def test_lgettext(self):
+        lgettext = gettext.lgettext
+        ldgettext = gettext.ldgettext
+        self.assertEqual(lgettext('mullusk'), b'bacon')
+        self.assertEqual(lgettext('spam'), b'spam')
+        self.assertEqual(ldgettext('gettext', 'mullusk'), b'bacon')
+        self.assertEqual(ldgettext('gettext', 'spam'), b'spam')
+
+    def test_lgettext_2(self):
+        with open(self.mofile, 'rb') as fp:
+            t = gettext.GNUTranslations(fp)
+        lgettext = t.lgettext
+        self.assertEqual(lgettext('mullusk'), b'bacon')
+        self.assertEqual(lgettext('spam'), b'spam')
+
+    def test_lgettext_bind_textdomain_codeset(self):
+        lgettext = gettext.lgettext
+        ldgettext = gettext.ldgettext
+        saved_codeset = gettext.bind_textdomain_codeset('gettext')
+        try:
+            gettext.bind_textdomain_codeset('gettext', 'utf-16')
+            self.assertEqual(lgettext('mullusk'), 'bacon'.encode('utf-16'))
+            self.assertEqual(lgettext('spam'), 'spam'.encode('utf-16'))
+            self.assertEqual(ldgettext('gettext', 'mullusk'), 'bacon'.encode('utf-16'))
+            self.assertEqual(ldgettext('gettext', 'spam'), 'spam'.encode('utf-16'))
+        finally:
+            del gettext._localecodesets['gettext']
+            gettext.bind_textdomain_codeset('gettext', saved_codeset)
+
+    def test_lgettext_output_encoding(self):
+        with open(self.mofile, 'rb') as fp:
+            t = gettext.GNUTranslations(fp)
+        lgettext = t.lgettext
+        t.set_output_charset('utf-16')
+        self.assertEqual(lgettext('mullusk'), 'bacon'.encode('utf-16'))
+        self.assertEqual(lgettext('spam'), 'spam'.encode('utf-16'))
+
+    def test_lngettext(self):
+        lngettext = gettext.lngettext
+        ldngettext = gettext.ldngettext
+        x = lngettext('There is %s file', 'There are %s files', 1)
+        self.assertEqual(x, b'Hay %s fichero')
+        x = lngettext('There is %s file', 'There are %s files', 2)
+        self.assertEqual(x, b'Hay %s ficheros')
+        x = lngettext('There is %s directory', 'There are %s directories', 1)
+        self.assertEqual(x, b'There is %s directory')
+        x = lngettext('There is %s directory', 'There are %s directories', 2)
+        self.assertEqual(x, b'There are %s directories')
+        x = ldngettext('gettext', 'There is %s file', 'There are %s files', 1)
+        self.assertEqual(x, b'Hay %s fichero')
+        x = ldngettext('gettext', 'There is %s file', 'There are %s files', 2)
+        self.assertEqual(x, b'Hay %s ficheros')
+        x = ldngettext('gettext', 'There is %s directory', 'There are %s directories', 1)
+        self.assertEqual(x, b'There is %s directory')
+        x = ldngettext('gettext', 'There is %s directory', 'There are %s directories', 2)
+        self.assertEqual(x, b'There are %s directories')
+
+    def test_lngettext_2(self):
+        with open(self.mofile, 'rb') as fp:
+            t = gettext.GNUTranslations(fp)
+        lngettext = t.lngettext
+        x = lngettext('There is %s file', 'There are %s files', 1)
+        self.assertEqual(x, b'Hay %s fichero')
+        x = lngettext('There is %s file', 'There are %s files', 2)
+        self.assertEqual(x, b'Hay %s ficheros')
+        x = lngettext('There is %s directory', 'There are %s directories', 1)
+        self.assertEqual(x, b'There is %s directory')
+        x = lngettext('There is %s directory', 'There are %s directories', 2)
+        self.assertEqual(x, b'There are %s directories')
+
+    def test_lngettext_bind_textdomain_codeset(self):
+        lngettext = gettext.lngettext
+        ldngettext = gettext.ldngettext
+        saved_codeset = gettext.bind_textdomain_codeset('gettext')
+        try:
+            gettext.bind_textdomain_codeset('gettext', 'utf-16')
+            x = lngettext('There is %s file', 'There are %s files', 1)
+            self.assertEqual(x, 'Hay %s fichero'.encode('utf-16'))
+            x = lngettext('There is %s file', 'There are %s files', 2)
+            self.assertEqual(x, 'Hay %s ficheros'.encode('utf-16'))
+            x = lngettext('There is %s directory', 'There are %s directories', 1)
+            self.assertEqual(x, 'There is %s directory'.encode('utf-16'))
+            x = lngettext('There is %s directory', 'There are %s directories', 2)
+            self.assertEqual(x, 'There are %s directories'.encode('utf-16'))
+            x = ldngettext('gettext', 'There is %s file', 'There are %s files', 1)
+            self.assertEqual(x, 'Hay %s fichero'.encode('utf-16'))
+            x = ldngettext('gettext', 'There is %s file', 'There are %s files', 2)
+            self.assertEqual(x, 'Hay %s ficheros'.encode('utf-16'))
+            x = ldngettext('gettext', 'There is %s directory', 'There are %s directories', 1)
+            self.assertEqual(x, 'There is %s directory'.encode('utf-16'))
+            x = ldngettext('gettext', 'There is %s directory', 'There are %s directories', 2)
+            self.assertEqual(x, 'There are %s directories'.encode('utf-16'))
+        finally:
+            del gettext._localecodesets['gettext']
+            gettext.bind_textdomain_codeset('gettext', saved_codeset)
+
+    def test_lngettext_output_encoding(self):
+        with open(self.mofile, 'rb') as fp:
+            t = gettext.GNUTranslations(fp)
+        lngettext = t.lngettext
+        t.set_output_charset('utf-16')
+        x = lngettext('There is %s file', 'There are %s files', 1)
+        self.assertEqual(x, 'Hay %s fichero'.encode('utf-16'))
+        x = lngettext('There is %s file', 'There are %s files', 2)
+        self.assertEqual(x, 'Hay %s ficheros'.encode('utf-16'))
+        x = lngettext('There is %s directory', 'There are %s directories', 1)
+        self.assertEqual(x, 'There is %s directory'.encode('utf-16'))
+        x = lngettext('There is %s directory', 'There are %s directories', 2)
+        self.assertEqual(x, 'There are %s directories'.encode('utf-16'))
+
+
 class GNUTranslationParsingTest(GettextBaseTest):
     def test_plural_form_error_issue17898(self):
         with open(MOFILE, 'wb') as fp:
@@ -472,13 +589,10 @@
         self._ = self.t.gettext
 
     def test_unicode_msgid(self):
-        unless = self.assertTrue
-        unless(isinstance(self._(''), str))
-        unless(isinstance(self._(''), str))
+        self.assertIsInstance(self._(''), str)
 
     def test_unicode_msgstr(self):
-        eq = self.assertEqual
-        eq(self._('ab\xde'), '\xa4yz')
+        self.assertEqual(self._('ab\xde'), '\xa4yz')
 
 
 class WeirdMetadataTest(GettextBaseTest):
@@ -547,7 +661,7 @@
 # The original version was automatically generated from the sources with
 # pygettext. Later it was manually modified to add plural forms support.
 
-'''
+b'''
 # Dummy translation for the Python test_gettext.py module.
 # Copyright (C) 2001 Python Software Foundation
 # Barry Warsaw <barry@python.org>, 2000.
@@ -607,7 +721,7 @@
 # Here's the second example po file example, used to generate the UMO_DATA
 # containing utf-8 encoded Unicode strings
 
-'''
+b'''
 # Dummy translation for the Python test_gettext.py module.
 # Copyright (C) 2001 Python Software Foundation
 # Barry Warsaw <barry@python.org>, 2000.
@@ -630,7 +744,7 @@
 
 # Here's the third example po file, used to generate MMO_DATA
 
-'''
+b'''
 msgid ""
 msgstr ""
 "Project-Id-Version: No Project 0.0\n"
@@ -649,7 +763,7 @@
 # messages.po, used for bug 17898
 #
 
-'''
+b'''
 # test file for http://bugs.python.org/issue17898
 msgid ""
 msgstr ""
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 3af74ff..88b1e3e 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -368,6 +368,9 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- bpo-29755: Fixed the lgettext() family of functions in the gettext module.
+  They now always return bytes.
+
 - [Security] bpo-30500: Fix urllib.parse.splithost() to correctly parse
   fragments. For example, ``splithost('//127.0.0.1#@evil.com/')`` now
   correctly returns the ``127.0.0.1`` host, instead of treating ``@evil.com``