diff --git a/Lib/test/test_binascii.py b/Lib/test/test_binascii.py
index c531c65..c8fad58 100755
--- a/Lib/test/test_binascii.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_binascii.py
@@ -3,14 +3,19 @@
 from test import test_support
 import unittest
 import binascii
+import array
 
 class BinASCIITest(unittest.TestCase):
 
+    type2test = str
     # Create binary test data
-    data = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.\r\n"
+    rawdata = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.\r\n"
     # Be slow so we don't depend on other modules
-    data += "".join(map(chr, xrange(256)))
-    data += "\r\nHello world.\n"
+    rawdata += "".join(map(chr, xrange(256)))
+    rawdata += "\r\nHello world.\n"
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.data = self.type2test(self.rawdata)
 
     def test_exceptions(self):
         # Check module exceptions
@@ -26,10 +31,10 @@
                 prefixes.extend(["crc_", "rlecode_", "rledecode_"])
             for prefix in prefixes:
                 name = prefix + suffix
-                self.assertTrue(callable(getattr(binascii, name)))
+                self.assertTrue(hasattr(getattr(binascii, name), '__call__'))
                 self.assertRaises(TypeError, getattr(binascii, name))
         for name in ("hexlify", "unhexlify"):
-            self.assertTrue(callable(getattr(binascii, name)))
+            self.assertTrue(hasattr(getattr(binascii, name), '__call__'))
             self.assertRaises(TypeError, getattr(binascii, name))
 
     def test_base64valid(self):
@@ -44,7 +49,7 @@
         for line in lines:
             b = binascii.a2b_base64(line)
             res = res + b
-        self.assertEqual(res, self.data)
+        self.assertEqual(res, self.rawdata)
 
     def test_base64invalid(self):
         # Test base64 with random invalid characters sprinkled throughout
@@ -77,7 +82,7 @@
         for line in map(addnoise, lines):
             b = binascii.a2b_base64(line)
             res += b
-        self.assertEqual(res, self.data)
+        self.assertEqual(res, self.rawdata)
 
         # Test base64 with just invalid characters, which should return
         # empty strings. TBD: shouldn't it raise an exception instead ?
@@ -94,7 +99,7 @@
         for line in lines:
             b = binascii.a2b_uu(line)
             res += b
-        self.assertEqual(res, self.data)
+        self.assertEqual(res, self.rawdata)
 
         self.assertEqual(binascii.a2b_uu("\x7f"), "\x00"*31)
         self.assertEqual(binascii.a2b_uu("\x80"), "\x00"*32)
@@ -167,8 +172,20 @@
             f('')
         binascii.crc_hqx('', 0)
 
+
+class ArrayBinASCIITest(BinASCIITest):
+    def type2test(self, s):
+        return array.array('c', s)
+
+
+class MemoryviewBinASCIITest(BinASCIITest):
+    type2test = memoryview
+
+
 def test_main():
-    test_support.run_unittest(BinASCIITest)
+    test_support.run_unittest(BinASCIITest,
+                              ArrayBinASCIITest,
+                              MemoryviewBinASCIITest)
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     test_main()
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 312a2a9..665c924 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #7703: Add support for the new buffer API to functions of the
+  binascii module.  Backported from py3k by Florent Xicluna, with some
+  additional tests.
+
 - Issue #2846: Add support for gzip.GzipFile reading zero-padded files.
   Patch by Brian Curtin.
 
diff --git a/Modules/binascii.c b/Modules/binascii.c
index bcbafcf..24d20e4 100644
--- a/Modules/binascii.c
+++ b/Modules/binascii.c
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@
 static PyObject *
 binascii_a2b_uu(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
+	Py_buffer pascii;
 	unsigned char *ascii_data, *bin_data;
 	int leftbits = 0;
 	unsigned char this_ch;
@@ -195,8 +196,10 @@
 	PyObject *rv;
 	Py_ssize_t ascii_len, bin_len;
 
-	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "t#:a2b_uu", &ascii_data, &ascii_len) )
+	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*:a2b_uu", &pascii) )
 		return NULL;
+	ascii_data = pascii.buf;
+	ascii_len = pascii.len;
 
 	assert(ascii_len >= 0);
 
@@ -205,9 +208,11 @@
 	ascii_len--;
 
 	/* Allocate the buffer */
-	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, bin_len)) == NULL )
+	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, bin_len)) == NULL ) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pascii);
 		return NULL;
-	bin_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv);
+	}
+	bin_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv);
 
 	for( ; bin_len > 0 ; ascii_len--, ascii_data++ ) {
 		/* XXX is it really best to add NULs if there's no more data */
@@ -226,6 +231,7 @@
 			*/
 			if ( this_ch < ' ' || this_ch > (' ' + 64)) {
 				PyErr_SetString(Error, "Illegal char");
+				PyBuffer_Release(&pascii);
 				Py_DECREF(rv);
 				return NULL;
 			}
@@ -254,10 +260,12 @@
 		if ( this_ch != ' ' && this_ch != ' '+64 &&
 		     this_ch != '\n' && this_ch != '\r' ) {
 			PyErr_SetString(Error, "Trailing garbage");
+			PyBuffer_Release(&pascii);
 			Py_DECREF(rv);
 			return NULL;
 		}
 	}
+	PyBuffer_Release(&pascii);
 	return rv;
 }
 
@@ -266,6 +274,7 @@
 static PyObject *
 binascii_b2a_uu(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
+	Py_buffer pbin;
 	unsigned char *ascii_data, *bin_data;
 	int leftbits = 0;
 	unsigned char this_ch;
@@ -273,18 +282,23 @@
 	PyObject *rv;
 	Py_ssize_t bin_len;
 
-	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s#:b2a_uu", &bin_data, &bin_len) )
+	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*:b2a_uu", &pbin) )
 		return NULL;
+	bin_data = pbin.buf;
+	bin_len = pbin.len;
 	if ( bin_len > 45 ) {
 		/* The 45 is a limit that appears in all uuencode's */
 		PyErr_SetString(Error, "At most 45 bytes at once");
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pbin);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
 	/* We're lazy and allocate to much (fixed up later) */
-	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, bin_len*2+2)) == NULL )
+	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, bin_len*2+2)) == NULL ) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pbin);
 		return NULL;
-	ascii_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv);
+	}
+	ascii_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv);
 
 	/* Store the length */
 	*ascii_data++ = ' ' + (bin_len & 077);
@@ -306,8 +320,13 @@
 	}
 	*ascii_data++ = '\n';	/* Append a courtesy newline */
 
-	_PyString_Resize(&rv, (ascii_data -
-			       (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv)));
+	if (_PyString_Resize(&rv,
+                           (ascii_data -
+                            (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv))) < 0) {
+		Py_DECREF(rv);
+		rv = NULL;
+	}
+	PyBuffer_Release(&pbin);
 	return rv;
 }
 
@@ -342,6 +361,7 @@
 static PyObject *
 binascii_a2b_base64(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
+	Py_buffer pascii;
 	unsigned char *ascii_data, *bin_data;
 	int leftbits = 0;
 	unsigned char this_ch;
@@ -350,20 +370,26 @@
 	Py_ssize_t ascii_len, bin_len;
 	int quad_pos = 0;
 
-	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "t#:a2b_base64", &ascii_data, &ascii_len) )
+	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*:a2b_base64", &pascii) )
 		return NULL;
+	ascii_data = pascii.buf;
+	ascii_len = pascii.len;
 
 	assert(ascii_len >= 0);
 
-	if (ascii_len > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX - 3)
+	if (ascii_len > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX - 3) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pascii);
 		return PyErr_NoMemory();
+	}
 
 	bin_len = ((ascii_len+3)/4)*3; /* Upper bound, corrected later */
 
 	/* Allocate the buffer */
-	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, bin_len)) == NULL )
+	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, bin_len)) == NULL ) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pascii);
 		return NULL;
-	bin_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv);
+	}
+	bin_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv);
 	bin_len = 0;
 
 	for( ; ascii_len > 0; ascii_len--, ascii_data++) {
@@ -415,6 +441,7 @@
  	}
 
 	if (leftbits != 0) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pascii);
 		PyErr_SetString(Error, "Incorrect padding");
 		Py_DECREF(rv);
 		return NULL;
@@ -424,12 +451,17 @@
 	** (because the input was all invalid) return the shared empty
 	** string instead; _PyString_Resize() won't do this for us.
 	*/
-	if (bin_len > 0)
-		_PyString_Resize(&rv, bin_len);
+	if (bin_len > 0) {
+		if (_PyString_Resize(&rv, bin_len) < 0) {
+			Py_DECREF(rv);
+			rv = NULL;
+		}
+	}
 	else {
 		Py_DECREF(rv);
-		rv = PyString_FromString("");
+		rv = PyString_FromStringAndSize("", 0);
 	}
+	PyBuffer_Release(&pascii);
 	return rv;
 }
 
@@ -438,6 +470,7 @@
 static PyObject *
 binascii_b2a_base64(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
+	Py_buffer pbuf;
 	unsigned char *ascii_data, *bin_data;
 	int leftbits = 0;
 	unsigned char this_ch;
@@ -445,22 +478,27 @@
 	PyObject *rv;
 	Py_ssize_t bin_len;
 
-	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s#:b2a_base64", &bin_data, &bin_len) )
+	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*:b2a_base64", &pbuf) )
 		return NULL;
+	bin_data = pbuf.buf;
+	bin_len = pbuf.len;
 
 	assert(bin_len >= 0);
 
 	if ( bin_len > BASE64_MAXBIN ) {
 		PyErr_SetString(Error, "Too much data for base64 line");
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pbuf);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
 	/* We're lazy and allocate too much (fixed up later).
 	   "+3" leaves room for up to two pad characters and a trailing
 	   newline.  Note that 'b' gets encoded as 'Yg==\n' (1 in, 5 out). */
-	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, bin_len*2 + 3)) == NULL )
+	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, bin_len*2 + 3)) == NULL ) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pbuf);
 		return NULL;
-	ascii_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv);
+	}
+	ascii_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv);
 
 	for( ; bin_len > 0 ; bin_len--, bin_data++ ) {
 		/* Shift the data into our buffer */
@@ -484,8 +522,13 @@
 	}
 	*ascii_data++ = '\n';	/* Append a courtesy newline */
 
-	_PyString_Resize(&rv, (ascii_data -
-			       (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv)));
+	if (_PyString_Resize(&rv,
+			   (ascii_data -
+			    (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv))) < 0) {
+		Py_DECREF(rv);
+		rv = NULL;
+	}
+	PyBuffer_Release(&pbuf);
 	return rv;
 }
 
@@ -515,7 +558,7 @@
 	   would preclude subsequent resizing.  */
 	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, len+2)) == NULL )
 		return NULL;
-	bin_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv);
+	bin_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv);
 
 	for( ; len > 0 ; len--, ascii_data++ ) {
 		/* Get the byte and look it up */
@@ -549,8 +592,12 @@
 		Py_DECREF(rv);
 		return NULL;
 	}
-	_PyString_Resize(
-		&rv, (bin_data - (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv)));
+	if (_PyString_Resize(&rv,
+			   (bin_data -
+			    (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv))) < 0) {
+		Py_DECREF(rv);
+		rv = NULL;
+	}
 	if (rv) {
 		PyObject *rrv = Py_BuildValue("Oi", rv, done);
 		Py_DECREF(rv);
@@ -565,23 +612,30 @@
 static PyObject *
 binascii_rlecode_hqx(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
+	Py_buffer pbuf;
 	unsigned char *in_data, *out_data;
 	PyObject *rv;
 	unsigned char ch;
 	Py_ssize_t in, inend, len;
 
-	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s#:rlecode_hqx", &in_data, &len) )
+	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*:rlecode_hqx", &pbuf) )
 		return NULL;
+	in_data = pbuf.buf;
+	len = pbuf.len;
 
 	assert(len >= 0);
 
-	if (len > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX / 2 - 2)
+	if (len > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX / 2 - 2) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pbuf);
 		return PyErr_NoMemory();
+	}
 
 	/* Worst case: output is twice as big as input (fixed later) */
-	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, len*2+2)) == NULL )
+	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, len*2+2)) == NULL ) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pbuf);
 		return NULL;
-	out_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv);
+	}
+	out_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv);
 
 	for( in=0; in<len; in++) {
 		ch = in_data[in];
@@ -607,8 +661,13 @@
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	_PyString_Resize(&rv, (out_data -
-			       (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv)));
+	if (_PyString_Resize(&rv,
+			   (out_data -
+			    (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv))) < 0) {
+		Py_DECREF(rv);
+		rv = NULL;
+	}
+	PyBuffer_Release(&pbuf);
 	return rv;
 }
 
@@ -617,6 +676,7 @@
 static PyObject *
 binascii_b2a_hqx(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
+	Py_buffer pbin;
 	unsigned char *ascii_data, *bin_data;
 	int leftbits = 0;
 	unsigned char this_ch;
@@ -624,18 +684,24 @@
 	PyObject *rv;
 	Py_ssize_t len;
 
-	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s#:b2a_hqx", &bin_data, &len) )
+	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*:b2a_hqx", &pbin) )
 		return NULL;
+	bin_data = pbin.buf;
+	len = pbin.len;
 
 	assert(len >= 0);
 
-	if (len > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX / 2 - 2)
+	if (len > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX / 2 - 2) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pbin);
 		return PyErr_NoMemory();
+	}
 
 	/* Allocate a buffer that is at least large enough */
-	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, len*2+2)) == NULL )
+	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, len*2+2)) == NULL ) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pbin);
 		return NULL;
-	ascii_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv);
+	}
+	ascii_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv);
 
 	for( ; len > 0 ; len--, bin_data++ ) {
 		/* Shift into our buffer, and output any 6bits ready */
@@ -652,8 +718,13 @@
 		leftchar <<= (6-leftbits);
 		*ascii_data++ = table_b2a_hqx[leftchar & 0x3f];
 	}
-	_PyString_Resize(&rv, (ascii_data -
-			       (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv)));
+	if (_PyString_Resize(&rv,
+			   (ascii_data -
+			    (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv))) < 0) {
+		Py_DECREF(rv);
+		rv = NULL;
+	}
+	PyBuffer_Release(&pbin);
 	return rv;
 }
 
@@ -662,28 +733,37 @@
 static PyObject *
 binascii_rledecode_hqx(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
+	Py_buffer pin;
 	unsigned char *in_data, *out_data;
 	unsigned char in_byte, in_repeat;
 	PyObject *rv;
 	Py_ssize_t in_len, out_len, out_len_left;
 
-	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s#:rledecode_hqx", &in_data, &in_len) )
+	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*:rledecode_hqx", &pin) )
 		return NULL;
+	in_data = pin.buf;
+	in_len = pin.len;
 
 	assert(in_len >= 0);
 
 	/* Empty string is a special case */
-	if ( in_len == 0 )
-		return PyString_FromString("");
-    else if (in_len > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX / 2)
-        return PyErr_NoMemory();
+	if ( in_len == 0 ) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pin);
+		return PyString_FromStringAndSize("", 0);
+	}
+	else if (in_len > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX / 2) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pin);
+		return PyErr_NoMemory();
+	}
 
 	/* Allocate a buffer of reasonable size. Resized when needed */
 	out_len = in_len*2;
-	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, out_len)) == NULL )
+	if ( (rv=PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, out_len)) == NULL ) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pin);
 		return NULL;
+	}
 	out_len_left = out_len;
-	out_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv);
+	out_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv);
 
 	/*
 	** We need two macros here to get/put bytes and handle
@@ -694,6 +774,7 @@
 	         if ( --in_len < 0 ) { \
 			   PyErr_SetString(Incomplete, ""); \
 			   Py_DECREF(rv); \
+			   PyBuffer_Release(&pin); \
 			   return NULL; \
 		 } \
 		 b = *in_data++; \
@@ -703,9 +784,9 @@
 	do { \
 		 if ( --out_len_left < 0 ) { \
 			  if ( out_len > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX / 2) return PyErr_NoMemory(); \
-			  _PyString_Resize(&rv, 2*out_len); \
-			  if ( rv == NULL ) return NULL; \
-			  out_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv) \
+			  if (_PyString_Resize(&rv, 2*out_len) < 0) \
+			    { Py_DECREF(rv); PyBuffer_Release(&pin); return NULL; } \
+			  out_data = (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv) \
 								 + out_len; \
 			  out_len_left = out_len-1; \
 			  out_len = out_len * 2; \
@@ -726,6 +807,7 @@
 			** of the string only). This is a programmer error.
 			*/
 			PyErr_SetString(Error, "Orphaned RLE code at start");
+			PyBuffer_Release(&pin);
 			Py_DECREF(rv);
 			return NULL;
 		}
@@ -753,8 +835,13 @@
 			OUTBYTE(in_byte);
 		}
 	}
-	_PyString_Resize(&rv, (out_data -
-			       (unsigned char *)PyString_AsString(rv)));
+	if (_PyString_Resize(&rv,
+			   (out_data -
+			    (unsigned char *)PyString_AS_STRING(rv))) < 0) {
+		Py_DECREF(rv);
+		rv = NULL;
+	}
+	PyBuffer_Release(&pin);
 	return rv;
 }
 
@@ -764,17 +851,21 @@
 static PyObject *
 binascii_crc_hqx(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
+	Py_buffer pin;
 	unsigned char *bin_data;
 	unsigned int crc;
 	Py_ssize_t len;
 
-	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s#i:crc_hqx", &bin_data, &len, &crc) )
+	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*i:crc_hqx", &pin, &crc) )
 		return NULL;
+	bin_data = pin.buf;
+	len = pin.len;
 
 	while(len-- > 0) {
 		crc=((crc<<8)&0xff00)^crctab_hqx[((crc>>8)&0xff)^*bin_data++];
 	}
 
+	PyBuffer_Release(&pin);
 	return Py_BuildValue("i", crc);
 }
 
@@ -787,17 +878,21 @@
 binascii_crc32(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
     unsigned int crc32val = 0;  /* crc32(0L, Z_NULL, 0) */
+    Py_buffer pbuf;
     Byte *buf;
     Py_ssize_t len;
     int signed_val;
 
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s#|I:crc32", &buf, &len, &crc32val))
-	return NULL;
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*|I:crc32", &pbuf, &crc32val))
+        return NULL;
     /* In Python 2.x we return a signed integer regardless of native platform
      * long size (the 32bit unsigned long is treated as 32-bit signed and sign
      * extended into a 64-bit long inside the integer object).  3.0 does the
      * right thing and returns unsigned. http://bugs.python.org/issue1202 */
+    buf = (Byte*)pbuf.buf;
+    len = pbuf.len;
     signed_val = crc32(crc32val, buf, len);
+    PyBuffer_Release(&pbuf);
     return PyInt_FromLong(signed_val);
 }
 #else  /* USE_ZLIB_CRC32 */
@@ -922,13 +1017,16 @@
 static PyObject *
 binascii_crc32(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 { /* By Jim Ahlstrom; All rights transferred to CNRI */
+	Py_buffer pbin;
 	unsigned char *bin_data;
 	unsigned int crc = 0U;	/* initial value of CRC */
 	Py_ssize_t len;
 	int result;
 
-	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s#|I:crc32", &bin_data, &len, &crc) )
+	if ( !PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*|I:crc32", &pbin, &crc) )
 		return NULL;
+	bin_data = pbin.buf;
+	len = pbin.len;
 
 	crc = ~ crc;
 	while (len-- > 0)
@@ -936,6 +1034,7 @@
 		/* Note:  (crc >> 8) MUST zero fill on left */
 
 	result = (int)(crc ^ 0xFFFFFFFFU);
+	PyBuffer_Release(&pbin);
 	return PyInt_FromLong(result);
 }
 #endif  /* USE_ZLIB_CRC32 */
@@ -944,25 +1043,30 @@
 static PyObject *
 binascii_hexlify(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
+	Py_buffer parg;
 	char* argbuf;
 	Py_ssize_t arglen;
 	PyObject *retval;
 	char* retbuf;
 	Py_ssize_t i, j;
 
-	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s#:b2a_hex", &argbuf, &arglen))
+	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*:b2a_hex", &parg))
 		return NULL;
+	argbuf = parg.buf;
+	arglen = parg.len;
 
 	assert(arglen >= 0);
-	if (arglen > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX / 2)
+	if (arglen > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX / 2) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&parg);
 		return PyErr_NoMemory();
+	}
 
 	retval = PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, arglen*2);
-	if (!retval)
+	if (!retval) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&parg);
 		return NULL;
-	retbuf = PyString_AsString(retval);
-	if (!retbuf)
-		goto finally;
+	}
+	retbuf = PyString_AS_STRING(retval);
 
 	/* make hex version of string, taken from shamodule.c */
 	for (i=j=0; i < arglen; i++) {
@@ -974,11 +1078,8 @@
 		c = (c>9) ? c+'a'-10 : c + '0';
 		retbuf[j++] = c;
 	}
+	PyBuffer_Release(&parg);
 	return retval;
-
-  finally:
-	Py_DECREF(retval);
-	return NULL;
 }
 
 PyDoc_STRVAR(doc_hexlify,
@@ -1005,14 +1106,17 @@
 static PyObject *
 binascii_unhexlify(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
+	Py_buffer parg;
 	char* argbuf;
 	Py_ssize_t arglen;
 	PyObject *retval;
 	char* retbuf;
 	Py_ssize_t i, j;
 
-	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s#:a2b_hex", &argbuf, &arglen))
+	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*:a2b_hex", &parg))
 		return NULL;
+	argbuf = parg.buf;
+	arglen = parg.len;
 
 	assert(arglen >= 0);
 
@@ -1021,16 +1125,17 @@
 	 * raise an exception.
 	 */
 	if (arglen % 2) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&parg);
 		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "Odd-length string");
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
 	retval = PyString_FromStringAndSize(NULL, (arglen/2));
-	if (!retval)
+	if (!retval) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&parg);
 		return NULL;
-	retbuf = PyString_AsString(retval);
-	if (!retbuf)
-		goto finally;
+	}
+	retbuf = PyString_AS_STRING(retval);
 
 	for (i=j=0; i < arglen; i += 2) {
 		int top = to_int(Py_CHARMASK(argbuf[i]));
@@ -1042,9 +1147,11 @@
 		}
 		retbuf[j++] = (top << 4) + bot;
 	}
+	PyBuffer_Release(&parg);
 	return retval;
 
   finally:
+	PyBuffer_Release(&parg);
 	Py_DECREF(retval);
 	return NULL;
 }
@@ -1077,15 +1184,18 @@
 {
 	Py_ssize_t in, out;
 	char ch;
+	Py_buffer pdata;
 	unsigned char *data, *odata;
 	Py_ssize_t datalen = 0;
 	PyObject *rv;
 	static char *kwlist[] = {"data", "header", NULL};
 	int header = 0;
 
-	if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kwargs, "s#|i", kwlist, &data,
-	      &datalen, &header))
+	if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kwargs, "s*|i", kwlist, &pdata,
+	      &header))
 		return NULL;
+	data = pdata.buf;
+	datalen = pdata.len;
 
 	/* We allocate the output same size as input, this is overkill.
 	 * The previous implementation used calloc() so we'll zero out the
@@ -1093,6 +1203,7 @@
 	 */
 	odata = (unsigned char *) PyMem_Malloc(datalen);
 	if (odata == NULL) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pdata);
 		PyErr_NoMemory();
 		return NULL;
 	}
@@ -1143,9 +1254,11 @@
 		}
 	}
 	if ((rv = PyString_FromStringAndSize((char *)odata, out)) == NULL) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pdata);
 		PyMem_Free(odata);
 		return NULL;
 	}
+	PyBuffer_Release(&pdata);
 	PyMem_Free(odata);
 	return rv;
 }
@@ -1176,6 +1289,7 @@
 binascii_b2a_qp (PyObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwargs)
 {
 	Py_ssize_t in, out;
+	Py_buffer pdata;
 	unsigned char *data, *odata;
 	Py_ssize_t datalen = 0, odatalen = 0;
 	PyObject *rv;
@@ -1189,9 +1303,11 @@
 	int crlf = 0;
 	unsigned char *p;
 
-	if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kwargs, "s#|iii", kwlist, &data,
-	      &datalen, &quotetabs, &istext, &header))
+	if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kwargs, "s*|iii", kwlist, &pdata,
+	      &quotetabs, &istext, &header))
 		return NULL;
+	data = pdata.buf;
+	datalen = pdata.len;
 
 	/* See if this string is using CRLF line ends */
 	/* XXX: this function has the side effect of converting all of
@@ -1269,6 +1385,7 @@
 	 */
 	odata = (unsigned char *) PyMem_Malloc(odatalen);
 	if (odata == NULL) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pdata);
 		PyErr_NoMemory();
 		return NULL;
 	}
@@ -1343,9 +1460,11 @@
 		}
 	}
 	if ((rv = PyString_FromStringAndSize((char *)odata, out)) == NULL) {
+		PyBuffer_Release(&pdata);
 		PyMem_Free(odata);
 		return NULL;
 	}
+	PyBuffer_Release(&pdata);
 	PyMem_Free(odata);
 	return rv;
 }