diff --git a/Lib/test/test_xmlrpc.py b/Lib/test/test_xmlrpc.py
index 4ccc6ff..e97420b 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_xmlrpc.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_xmlrpc.py
@@ -66,15 +66,6 @@
         (newdt,), m = xmlrpclib.loads(s, use_datetime=0)
         self.assertEqual(newdt, xmlrpclib.DateTime('00010210T11:41:23'))
 
-    def test_cmp_datetime_DateTime(self):
-        now = datetime.datetime.now()
-        dt = xmlrpclib.DateTime(now.timetuple())
-        self.assertTrue(dt == now)
-        self.assertTrue(now == dt)
-        then = now + datetime.timedelta(seconds=4)
-        self.assertTrue(then >= dt)
-        self.assertTrue(dt < then)
-
     def test_bug_1164912 (self):
         d = xmlrpclib.DateTime()
         ((new_d,), dummy) = xmlrpclib.loads(xmlrpclib.dumps((d,),
@@ -149,6 +140,9 @@
                           ('host.tld',
                            [('Authorization', 'Basic dXNlcg==')], {}))
 
+    def test_dump_bytes(self):
+        self.assertRaises(TypeError, xmlrpclib.dumps, (b"my dog has fleas",))
+
     def test_ssl_presence(self):
         try:
             import ssl
@@ -186,7 +180,7 @@
         self.assertRaises(xmlrpclib.Fault, xmlrpclib.loads, s)
 
     def test_dotted_attribute(self):
-        # this will raise AttirebuteError because code don't want us to use
+        # this will raise AttributeError because code don't want us to use
         # private methods
         self.assertRaises(AttributeError,
                           xmlrpc.server.resolve_dotted_attribute, str, '__add')
@@ -233,6 +227,45 @@
         t2 = xmlrpclib._datetime(d)
         self.assertEqual(t1, tref)
 
+    def test_comparison(self):
+        now = datetime.datetime.now()
+        dtime = xmlrpclib.DateTime(now.timetuple())
+
+        # datetime vs. DateTime
+        self.assertTrue(dtime == now)
+        self.assertTrue(now == dtime)
+        then = now + datetime.timedelta(seconds=4)
+        self.assertTrue(then >= dtime)
+        self.assertTrue(dtime < then)
+
+        # str vs. DateTime
+        dstr = now.strftime("%Y%m%dT%H:%M:%S")
+        self.assertTrue(dtime == dstr)
+        self.assertTrue(dstr == dtime)
+        dtime_then = xmlrpclib.DateTime(then.timetuple())
+        self.assertTrue(dtime_then >= dstr)
+        self.assertTrue(dstr < dtime_then)
+
+        # some other types
+        dbytes = dstr.encode('ascii')
+        dtuple = now.timetuple()
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
+            dtime == 1970
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
+            dtime != dbytes
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
+            dtime == bytearray(dbytes)
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
+            dtime != dtuple
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
+            dtime < float(1970)
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
+            dtime > dbytes
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
+            dtime <= bytearray(dbytes)
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
+            dtime >= dtuple
+
 class BinaryTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
     # XXX What should str(Binary(b"\xff")) return?  I'm chosing "\xff"
@@ -346,6 +379,10 @@
     class MyRequestHandler(requestHandler):
         rpc_paths = []
 
+    class BrokenDispatcher:
+        def _marshaled_dispatch(self, data, dispatch_method=None, path=None):
+            raise RuntimeError("broken dispatcher")
+
     serv = MyXMLRPCServer(("localhost", 0), MyRequestHandler,
                           logRequests=False, bind_and_activate=False)
     serv.socket.settimeout(3)
@@ -366,6 +403,7 @@
             d.register_multicall_functions()
         serv.get_dispatcher(paths[0]).register_function(pow)
         serv.get_dispatcher(paths[1]).register_function(lambda x,y: x+y, 'add')
+        serv.add_dispatcher("/is/broken", BrokenDispatcher())
         evt.set()
 
         # handle up to 'numrequests' requests
@@ -595,11 +633,16 @@
         p = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy(URL+"/foo")
         self.assertEqual(p.pow(6,8), 6**8)
         self.assertRaises(xmlrpclib.Fault, p.add, 6, 8)
+
     def test_path2(self):
         p = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy(URL+"/foo/bar")
         self.assertEqual(p.add(6,8), 6+8)
         self.assertRaises(xmlrpclib.Fault, p.pow, 6, 8)
 
+    def test_path3(self):
+        p = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy(URL+"/is/broken")
+        self.assertRaises(xmlrpclib.Fault, p.add, 6, 8)
+
 #A test case that verifies that a server using the HTTP/1.1 keep-alive mechanism
 #does indeed serve subsequent requests on the same connection
 class BaseKeepaliveServerTestCase(BaseServerTestCase):
diff --git a/Lib/xmlrpc/client.py b/Lib/xmlrpc/client.py
index 3cd000a..496b2b5 100644
--- a/Lib/xmlrpc/client.py
+++ b/Lib/xmlrpc/client.py
@@ -85,11 +85,6 @@
 # OF THIS SOFTWARE.
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-#
-# things to look into some day:
-
-# TODO: sort out True/False/boolean issues for Python 2.3
-
 """
 An XML-RPC client interface for Python.
 
@@ -120,8 +115,7 @@
 
 Exported constants:
 
-  True
-  False
+  (none)
 
 Exported functions:
 
@@ -133,7 +127,8 @@
                  name (None if not present).
 """
 
-import re, time, operator
+import base64
+import time
 import http.client
 from xml.parsers import expat
 import socket
@@ -230,7 +225,7 @@
 ##
 # Indicates an XML-RPC fault response package.  This exception is
 # raised by the unmarshalling layer, if the XML-RPC response contains
-# a fault string.  This exception can also used as a class, to
+# a fault string.  This exception can also be used as a class, to
 # generate a fault XML-RPC message.
 #
 # @param faultCode The XML-RPC fault code.
@@ -243,10 +238,7 @@
         self.faultCode = faultCode
         self.faultString = faultString
     def __repr__(self):
-        return (
-            "<Fault %s: %s>" %
-            (self.faultCode, repr(self.faultString))
-            )
+        return "<Fault %s: %r>" % (self.faultCode, self.faultString)
 
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Special values
@@ -302,7 +294,7 @@
         elif datetime and isinstance(other, datetime.datetime):
             s = self.value
             o = other.strftime("%Y%m%dT%H:%M:%S")
-        elif isinstance(other, (str, unicode)):
+        elif isinstance(other, str):
             s = self.value
             o = other
         elif hasattr(other, "timetuple"):
@@ -352,7 +344,7 @@
         return self.value
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        return "<DateTime %s at %x>" % (repr(self.value), id(self))
+        return "<DateTime %r at %x>" % (self.value, id(self))
 
     def decode(self, data):
         self.value = str(data).strip()
@@ -378,9 +370,6 @@
 #
 # @param data An 8-bit string containing arbitrary data.
 
-import base64
-import io
-
 class Binary:
     """Wrapper for binary data."""
 
@@ -514,9 +503,7 @@
             f = self.dispatch[type(value)]
         except KeyError:
             # check if this object can be marshalled as a structure
-            try:
-                value.__dict__
-            except:
+            if not hasattr(value, '__dict__'):
                 raise TypeError("cannot marshal %s objects" % type(value))
             # check if this class is a sub-class of a basic type,
             # because we don't know how to marshal these types
@@ -558,12 +545,6 @@
         write("</double></value>\n")
     dispatch[float] = dump_double
 
-    def dump_string(self, value, write, escape=escape):
-        write("<value><string>")
-        write(escape(value))
-        write("</string></value>\n")
-    dispatch[bytes] = dump_string
-
     def dump_unicode(self, value, write, escape=escape):
         write("<value><string>")
         write(escape(value))
@@ -1192,7 +1173,6 @@
         auth, host = urllib.parse.splituser(host)
 
         if auth:
-            import base64
             auth = urllib.parse.unquote_to_bytes(auth)
             auth = base64.encodebytes(auth).decode("utf-8")
             auth = "".join(auth.split()) # get rid of whitespace
diff --git a/Lib/xmlrpc/server.py b/Lib/xmlrpc/server.py
index ac252f1..72f3bfc 100644
--- a/Lib/xmlrpc/server.py
+++ b/Lib/xmlrpc/server.py
@@ -329,7 +329,6 @@
         if method is None:
             return ""
         else:
-            import pydoc
             return pydoc.getdoc(method)
 
     def system_multicall(self, call_list):
@@ -560,7 +559,7 @@
     Simple XML-RPC server that allows functions and a single instance
     to be installed to handle requests. The default implementation
     attempts to dispatch XML-RPC calls to the functions or instance
-    installed in the server. Override the _dispatch method inhereted
+    installed in the server. Override the _dispatch method inherited
     from SimpleXMLRPCDispatcher to change this behavior.
     """
 
@@ -602,7 +601,7 @@
                                     encoding, bind_and_activate)
         self.dispatchers = {}
         self.allow_none = allow_none
-        self.encoding = encoding
+        self.encoding = encoding or 'utf-8'
 
     def add_dispatcher(self, path, dispatcher):
         self.dispatchers[path] = dispatcher
@@ -620,9 +619,10 @@
             # (each dispatcher should have handled their own
             # exceptions)
             exc_type, exc_value = sys.exc_info()[:2]
-            response = xmlrpclib.dumps(
-                xmlrpclib.Fault(1, "%s:%s" % (exc_type, exc_value)),
+            response = dumps(
+                Fault(1, "%s:%s" % (exc_type, exc_value)),
                 encoding=self.encoding, allow_none=self.allow_none)
+            response = response.encode(self.encoding)
         return response
 
 class CGIXMLRPCRequestHandler(SimpleXMLRPCDispatcher):
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 7c51810..02374aa 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -340,9 +340,15 @@
 - Issue #12380: The rjust, ljust and center methods of bytes and bytearray
   now accept a bytearray argument.
 
+
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #13293: Better error message when trying to marshal bytes using
+  xmlrpc.client.
+
+- Issue #13291: NameError in xmlrpc package.
+
 - Issue #13258: Use callable() built-in in the standard library.
 
 - Issue #13273: fix a bug that prevented HTMLParser to properly detect some