diff --git a/Python/Python-ast.c b/Python/Python-ast.c
index 701ac48..91ad3ad 100644
--- a/Python/Python-ast.c
+++ b/Python/Python-ast.c
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 
 /*
-   __version__ 82160.
+   __version__ .
 
    This module must be committed separately after each AST grammar change;
    The __version__ number is set to the revision number of the commit
@@ -594,8 +594,25 @@
     return 0;
 }
 
-#define obj2ast_identifier obj2ast_object
-#define obj2ast_string obj2ast_object
+static int obj2ast_identifier(PyObject* obj, PyObject** out, PyArena* arena)
+{
+    if (!PyString_CheckExact(obj)) {
+        PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
+                    "AST identifier must be of type str");
+        return 1;
+    }
+    return obj2ast_object(obj, out, arena);
+}
+
+static int obj2ast_string(PyObject* obj, PyObject** out, PyArena* arena)
+{
+    if (!PyString_CheckExact(obj) && !PyUnicode_CheckExact(obj)) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
+                       "AST string must be of type str or unicode");
+        return 1;
+    }
+    return obj2ast_object(obj, out, arena);
+}
 
 static int obj2ast_int(PyObject* obj, int* out, PyArena* arena)
 {
@@ -6570,7 +6587,7 @@
         if (PyDict_SetItemString(d, "AST", (PyObject*)&AST_type) < 0) return;
         if (PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "PyCF_ONLY_AST", PyCF_ONLY_AST) < 0)
                 return;
-        if (PyModule_AddStringConstant(m, "__version__", "82160") < 0)
+        if (PyModule_AddStringConstant(m, "__version__", "") < 0)
                 return;
         if (PyDict_SetItemString(d, "mod", (PyObject*)mod_type) < 0) return;
         if (PyDict_SetItemString(d, "Module", (PyObject*)Module_type) < 0)