diff --git a/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c b/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
index add2e6f..41b94aa 100644
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
@@ -435,10 +435,8 @@
     } else if (PyString_Check(py_val)) {
         sqlite3_result_text(context, PyString_AsString(py_val), -1, SQLITE_TRANSIENT);
     } else if (PyUnicode_Check(py_val)) {
-        stringval = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(py_val);
         if (stringval) {
-            sqlite3_result_text(context, PyString_AsString(stringval), -1, SQLITE_TRANSIENT);
-            Py_DECREF(stringval);
+            sqlite3_result_text(context, PyUnicode_AsString(stringval), -1, SQLITE_TRANSIENT);
         }
     } else {
         /* TODO: raise error */
@@ -1094,7 +1092,7 @@
         goto finally;
     }
 
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "O!O:create_collation(name, callback)", &PyString_Type, &name, &callable)) {
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "O!O:create_collation(name, callback)", &PyUnicode_Type, &name, &callable)) {
         goto finally;
     }
 
diff --git a/Modules/_sqlite/cursor.c b/Modules/_sqlite/cursor.c
index 055e544..412e386 100644
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/cursor.c
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/cursor.c
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@
             if ((*pos == '[') && (pos > colname) && (*(pos-1) == ' ')) {
                 pos--;
             }
-            return PyString_FromStringAndSize(colname, pos - colname);
+            return PyUnicode_FromStringAndSize(colname, pos - colname);
         }
     }
 }
@@ -372,8 +372,10 @@
                     }
                 } else if (self->connection->text_factory == (PyObject*)&PyString_Type) {
                     converted = PyString_FromString(val_str);
+                } else if (self->connection->text_factory == (PyObject*)&PyBytes_Type) {
+                    converted = PyBytes_FromStringAndSize(val_str, strlen(val_str));
                 } else {
-                    converted = PyObject_CallFunction(self->connection->text_factory, "s", val_str);
+                    converted = PyObject_CallFunction(self->connection->text_factory, "y", val_str);
                 }
             } else {
                 /* coltype == SQLITE_BLOB */
@@ -746,17 +748,13 @@
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    if (PyString_Check(script_obj)) {
-        script_cstr = PyString_AsString(script_obj);
-    } else if (PyUnicode_Check(script_obj)) {
-        script_str = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(script_obj);
-        if (!script_str) {
+    if (PyUnicode_Check(script_obj)) {
+        script_cstr = PyUnicode_AsString(script_obj);
+        if (!script_cstr) {
             return NULL;
         }
-
-        script_cstr = PyString_AsString(script_str);
     } else {
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "script argument must be unicode or string.");
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "script argument must be unicode.");
         return NULL;
     }
 
diff --git a/Modules/_sqlite/row.c b/Modules/_sqlite/row.c
index 6bd1887..b2f105a 100644
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/row.c
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/row.c
@@ -86,8 +86,8 @@
         item = PyTuple_GetItem(self->data, _idx);
         Py_XINCREF(item);
         return item;
-    } else if (PyString_Check(idx)) {
-        key = PyString_AsString(idx);
+    } else if (PyUnicode_Check(idx)) {
+        key = PyUnicode_AsString(idx);
 
         nitems = PyTuple_Size(self->description);
 
diff --git a/Modules/_sqlite/statement.c b/Modules/_sqlite/statement.c
index 5987b2a..b80b955 100644
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/statement.c
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/statement.c
@@ -113,7 +113,8 @@
         rc = sqlite3_bind_text(self->st, pos, string, -1, SQLITE_TRANSIENT);
     } else if PyUnicode_Check(parameter) {
         stringval = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(parameter);
-        string = PyString_AsString(stringval);
+        string = PyBytes_AsString(stringval);
+
         rc = sqlite3_bind_text(self->st, pos, string, -1, SQLITE_TRANSIENT);
         Py_DECREF(stringval);
     } else {