@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ typedef struct {
      */
 } PyStringObject;
 
-PyAPI_DATA(PyTypeObject) PyBaseString_Type;
 PyAPI_DATA(PyTypeObject) PyString_Type;
 
 #define PyString_Check(op) \
 
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ def read(self, filenames):
 
         Return list of successfully read files.
         """
-        if isinstance(filenames, basestring):
+        if isinstance(filenames, str):
             filenames = [filenames]
         read_ok = []
         for filename in filenames:
@@ -652,7 +652,7 @@ def _interpolate_some(self, option, accum, rest, section, map, depth):
 
     def set(self, section, option, value):
         """Set an option.  Extend ConfigParser.set: check for string values."""
-        if not isinstance(value, basestring):
+        if not isinstance(value, str):
             raise TypeError("option values must be strings")
         # check for bad percent signs:
         # first, replace all "good" interpolations
 
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 class UserString:
     def __init__(self, seq):
-        if isinstance(seq, basestring):
+        if isinstance(seq, str):
             self.data = seq
         elif isinstance(seq, UserString):
             self.data = seq.data[:]
@@ -66,12 +66,12 @@ def __getitem__(self, index): return self.__class__(self.data[index])
     def __add__(self, other):
         if isinstance(other, UserString):
             return self.__class__(self.data + other.data)
-        elif isinstance(other, basestring):
+        elif isinstance(other, str):
             return self.__class__(self.data + other)
         else:
             return self.__class__(self.data + str(other))
     def __radd__(self, other):
-        if isinstance(other, basestring):
+        if isinstance(other, str):
             return self.__class__(other + self.data)
         else:
             return self.__class__(str(other) + self.data)
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ def __setitem__(self, index, sub):
         if isinstance(index, slice):
             if isinstance(sub, UserString):
                 sub = sub.data
-            elif not isinstance(sub, basestring):
+            elif not isinstance(sub, str):
                 sub = str(sub)
             start, stop, step = index.indices(len(self.data))
             if step == -1:
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ def immutable(self):
     def __iadd__(self, other):
         if isinstance(other, UserString):
             self.data += other.data
-        elif isinstance(other, basestring):
+        elif isinstance(other, str):
             self.data += other
         else:
             self.data += str(other)
 
@@ -490,7 +490,8 @@ def count(self, value):
         return sum(1 for v in self if v == value)
 
 Sequence.register(tuple)
-Sequence.register(basestring)
+Sequence.register(str)
+Sequence.register(str8)
 Sequence.register(memoryview)
 
 
 
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ def close(self):
 class BinHex:
     def __init__(self, name_finfo_dlen_rlen, ofp):
         name, finfo, dlen, rlen = name_finfo_dlen_rlen
-        if isinstance(ofp, basestring):
+        if isinstance(ofp, str):
             ofname = ofp
             ofp = io.open(ofname, 'wb')
             if os.name == 'mac':
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ def close(self):
 
 class HexBin:
     def __init__(self, ifp):
-        if isinstance(ifp, basestring):
+        if isinstance(ifp, str):
             ifp = io.open(ifp, 'rb')
         #
         # Find initial colon.
 
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ def runcall(self, func, *args, **kw):
 # ____________________________________________________________
 
 def label(code):
-    if isinstance(code, basestring):
+    if isinstance(code, str):
         return ('~', 0, code)    # built-in functions ('~' sorts at the end)
     else:
         return (code.co_filename, code.co_firstlineno, code.co_name)
 
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ def columnize(self, list, displaywidth=80):
             return
 
         nonstrings = [i for i in range(len(list))
-                        if not isinstance(list[i], basestring)]
+                        if not isinstance(list[i], str)]
         if nonstrings:
             raise TypeError("list[i] not a string for i in %s"
                             % ", ".join(map(str, nonstrings)))
 
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ def split_header_words(header_values):
     [[('Basic', None), ('realm', '"foobar"')]]
 
     """
-    assert not isinstance(header_values, basestring)
+    assert not isinstance(header_values, str)
     result = []
     for text in header_values:
         orig_text = text
 
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ class found there.  (This assumes classes don't modify their
             if "__slots__" in c.__dict__:
                 slots = c.__dict__['__slots__']
                 # if class has a single slot, it can be given as a string
-                if isinstance(slots, basestring):
+                if isinstance(slots, str):
                     slots = (slots,)
                 for name in slots:
                     # special descriptors
 
@@ -588,7 +588,7 @@ def __new__(cls, value="0", context=None):
 
         # From a string
         # REs insist on real strings, so we can too.
-        if isinstance(value, basestring):
+        if isinstance(value, str):
             if _isinfinity(value):
                 self._exp = 'F'
                 self._int = (0,)