diff --git a/OpenSSL/crypto/x509name.c b/OpenSSL/crypto/x509name.c
index 4ff2c34..a62c957 100644
--- a/OpenSSL/crypto/x509name.c
+++ b/OpenSSL/crypto/x509name.c
@@ -202,13 +202,19 @@
     char *buffer;
     char *name;
 
-    if (!PyString_CheckExact(nameobj) || !(name = PyString_AsString(nameobj))) {
+    if (!PyBytes_CheckExact(nameobj) && !PyUnicode_CheckExact(nameobj)) {
         PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
                      "attribute name must be string, not '%.200s'",
                      Py_TYPE(nameobj)->tp_name);
         return -1;
     }
 
+#ifdef PY3
+    name = PyBytes_AsString(PyUnicode_AsASCIIString(nameobj));
+#else
+    name = PyBytes_AsString(nameobj);
+#endif
+
     if ((nid = OBJ_txt2nid(name)) == NID_undef)
     {
         /* Just like the case in the getattr function */
diff --git a/OpenSSL/ssl/connection.c b/OpenSSL/ssl/connection.c
index 993b628..5b304b1 100755
--- a/OpenSSL/ssl/connection.c
+++ b/OpenSSL/ssl/connection.c
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@
     int len, ret, err, flags;
     char *buf;
 
-#if !defined(PYPY_VERSION) || PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x02060000
+#if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x02060000
     Py_buffer pbuf;
 
     if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*|i:send", &pbuf, &flags))
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@
     ret = SSL_write(self->ssl, buf, len);
     MY_END_ALLOW_THREADS(self->tstate)
 
-#if !defined(PYPY_VERSION) || PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x02060000
+#if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x02060000
     PyBuffer_Release(&pbuf);
 #endif
 
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@
     int len, ret, err, flags;
     PyObject *pyret = Py_None;
 
-#if !defined(PYPY_VERSION) || PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x02060000
+#if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x02060000
     Py_buffer pbuf;
 
     if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s*|i:sendall", &pbuf, &flags))
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@
         }
     } while (len > 0);
 
-#if !defined(PYPY_VERSION) || PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x02060000
+#if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x02060000
     PyBuffer_Release(&pbuf);
 #endif
 
diff --git a/OpenSSL/util.h b/OpenSSL/util.h
index 4cef481..e634b01 100644
--- a/OpenSSL/util.h
+++ b/OpenSSL/util.h
@@ -137,4 +137,8 @@
 #define PyOpenSSL_LongToHex(o) PyNumber_ToBase(o, 16)
 #endif
 
+#ifndef Py_TYPE
+#define Py_TYPE(ob)             (((PyObject*)(ob))->ob_type)
+#endif
+
 #endif