diff --git a/.builder/actions/manylinux-ci.py b/.builder/actions/manylinux-ci.py
index 19839b396..9a3ee87c7 100644
--- a/.builder/actions/manylinux-ci.py
+++ b/.builder/actions/manylinux-ci.py
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@
     'cp35-cp35m',
     'cp36-cp36m',
     'cp37-cp37m',
-    'cp27-cp27m',
-    'cp27-cp27mu',
 )
 
 
diff --git a/.lgtm.yml b/.lgtm.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d267832eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.lgtm.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+extraction:
+  cpp:
+    index:
+      # not sure why cpp builds are using python 2, but this should stop it
+      build_command: "python3 setup.py build"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f9976cb97..a236d4897 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ## AWS CRT Python
 
-Python bindings for the AWS Common Runtime.
+Python 3 bindings for the AWS Common Runtime.
 
 API documentation: https://awslabs.github.io/aws-crt-python/
 
@@ -8,11 +8,14 @@ API documentation: https://awslabs.github.io/aws-crt-python/
 
 This library is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License.
 
+## Minimum Requirements:
+*   Python 3.5+
+
 ## Installation
 
 To install from pip:
 ````bash
-python -m pip install awscrt
+python3 -m pip install awscrt
 ````
 
 To install from Github:
@@ -20,7 +23,7 @@ To install from Github:
 git clone https://github.com/awslabs/aws-crt-python.git
 cd aws-crt-python
 git submodule update --init
-python -m pip install .
+python3 -m pip install .
 ````
 
 To use from your Python application, declare `awscrt` as a dependency in your `setup.py` file.
diff --git a/awscrt/__init__.py b/awscrt/__init__.py
index 1e7187f17..883bca413 100644
--- a/awscrt/__init__.py
+++ b/awscrt/__init__.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 # Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0.
 
-from sys import version_info
 from weakref import WeakSet
 
 __all__ = [
@@ -13,7 +12,7 @@
 ]
 
 
-class NativeResource(object):
+class NativeResource:
     """
     Base for classes that bind to a native type.
     _binding is a python capsule referencing the native object.
@@ -33,12 +32,3 @@ class NativeResource(object):
     def __init__(self):
         if NativeResource._track_lifetime:
             NativeResource._living.add(self)
-
-
-def isinstance_str(x):
-    """
-    Python 2/3 compatible way to check isinstance(x, str).
-    """
-    if version_info[0] == 2:
-        return isinstance(x, basestring)
-    return isinstance(x, str)
diff --git a/awscrt/auth.py b/awscrt/auth.py
index 8a68901cf..859eee54c 100644
--- a/awscrt/auth.py
+++ b/awscrt/auth.py
@@ -7,35 +7,13 @@
 
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 import _awscrt
-from awscrt import isinstance_str, NativeResource
+from awscrt import NativeResource
 import awscrt.exceptions
 from awscrt.http import HttpRequest
 from awscrt.io import ClientBootstrap
 from concurrent.futures import Future
 import datetime
 from enum import IntEnum
-import time
-
-try:
-    _utc = datetime.timezone.utc
-except AttributeError:
-    # Python 2 lacks the datetime.timestamp() method.
-    # We can do the timestamp math ourselves, but only if datetime.tzinfo is set.
-    # Python 2 also lacks any predefined tzinfo classes (ex: datetime.timezone.utc),
-    # so we must define our own.
-    class _UTC(datetime.tzinfo):
-        ZERO = datetime.timedelta(0)
-
-        def utcoffset(self, dt):
-            return _UTC.ZERO
-
-        def tzname(self, dt):
-            return "UTC"
-
-        def dst(self, dt):
-            return _UTC.ZERO
-
-    _utc = _UTC()
 
 
 class AwsCredentials(NativeResource):
@@ -57,11 +35,11 @@ class AwsCredentials(NativeResource):
     __slots__ = ()
 
     def __init__(self, access_key_id, secret_access_key, session_token=None):
-        assert isinstance_str(access_key_id)
-        assert isinstance_str(secret_access_key)
-        assert isinstance_str(session_token) or session_token is None
+        assert isinstance(access_key_id, str)
+        assert isinstance(secret_access_key, str)
+        assert isinstance(session_token, str) or session_token is None
 
-        super(AwsCredentials, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
         self._binding = _awscrt.credentials_new(access_key_id, secret_access_key, session_token)
 
     @classmethod
@@ -98,7 +76,7 @@ class AwsCredentialsProviderBase(NativeResource):
     __slots__ = ()
 
     def __init__(self, binding=None):
-        super(AwsCredentialsProviderBase, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
 
         if binding is None:
             # TODO: create binding type that lets native code call into python subclass
@@ -156,9 +134,9 @@ def new_static(cls, access_key_id, secret_access_key, session_token=None):
         Returns:
             AwsCredentialsProvider:
         """
-        assert isinstance_str(access_key_id)
-        assert isinstance_str(secret_access_key)
-        assert isinstance_str(session_token) or session_token is None
+        assert isinstance(access_key_id, str)
+        assert isinstance(secret_access_key, str)
+        assert isinstance(session_token, str) or session_token is None
 
         binding = _awscrt.credentials_provider_new_static(access_key_id, secret_access_key, session_token)
         return cls(binding)
@@ -345,28 +323,19 @@ def __init__(self,
         assert isinstance(algorithm, AwsSigningAlgorithm)
         assert isinstance(signature_type, AwsSignatureType)
         assert isinstance(credentials_provider, AwsCredentialsProviderBase)
-        assert isinstance_str(region)
-        assert isinstance_str(service)
+        assert isinstance(region, str)
+        assert isinstance(service, str)
         assert callable(should_sign_header) or should_sign_header is None
         assert signed_body_value is None or (isinstance(signed_body_value, str) and len(signed_body_value) > 0)
         assert isinstance(signed_body_header_type, AwsSignedBodyHeaderType)
         assert expiration_in_seconds is None or expiration_in_seconds > 0
 
-        super(AwsSigningConfig, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
 
         if date is None:
-            date = datetime.datetime.now(_utc)
+            date = datetime.datetime.now(datetime.timezone.utc)
 
-        try:
-            timestamp = date.timestamp()
-        except AttributeError:
-            # Python 2 doesn't have datetime.timestamp() function.
-            # If it did we could just call it from binding code instead of calculating it here.
-            if date.tzinfo is None:
-                timestamp = time.mktime(date.timetuple())
-            else:
-                epoch = datetime.datetime(1970, 1, 1, tzinfo=_utc)
-                timestamp = (date - epoch).total_seconds()
+        timestamp = date.timestamp()
 
         self._priv_should_sign_cb = should_sign_header
 
diff --git a/awscrt/crypto.py b/awscrt/crypto.py
index 2c3fae2cf..4c951df3b 100644
--- a/awscrt/crypto.py
+++ b/awscrt/crypto.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 import _awscrt
 
 
-class Hash(object):
+class Hash:
 
     def __init__(self, native_handle):
         """
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ def digest(self, truncate_to=0):
         return _awscrt.hash_digest(self._hash, truncate_to)
 
 
-class HMAC(object):
+class HMAC:
     def __init__(self, native_handle):
         """
         don't call me, I'm private
diff --git a/awscrt/http.py b/awscrt/http.py
index 1d7638de4..b24a2a3d4 100644
--- a/awscrt/http.py
+++ b/awscrt/http.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 import _awscrt
 from concurrent.futures import Future
-from awscrt import NativeResource, isinstance_str
+from awscrt import NativeResource
 import awscrt.exceptions
 from awscrt.io import ClientBootstrap, EventLoopGroup, DefaultHostResolver, InputStream, TlsConnectionOptions, SocketOptions
 from enum import IntEnum
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class HttpConnectionBase(NativeResource):
     __slots__ = ('_shutdown_future', '_version')
 
     def __init__(self):
-        super(HttpConnectionBase, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
 
         self._shutdown_future = Future()
 
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ def new(cls,
             Otherwise, it will contain an exception.
         """
         assert isinstance(bootstrap, ClientBootstrap) or bootstrap is None
-        assert isinstance_str(host_name)
+        assert isinstance(host_name, str)
         assert isinstance(port, int)
         assert isinstance(tls_connection_options, TlsConnectionOptions) or tls_connection_options is None
         assert isinstance(socket_options, SocketOptions) or socket_options is None
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ class HttpStreamBase(NativeResource):
     __slots__ = ('_connection', '_completion_future', '_on_body_cb')
 
     def __init__(self, connection, on_body=None):
-        super(HttpStreamBase, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
         self._connection = connection
         self._completion_future = Future()
         self._on_body_cb = on_body
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ def __init__(self, connection, request, on_response=None, on_body=None):
         assert callable(on_response) or on_response is None
         assert callable(on_body) or on_body is None
 
-        super(HttpClientStream, self).__init__(connection, on_body)
+        super().__init__(connection, on_body)
 
         self._on_response_cb = on_response
         self._response_status_code = None
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ class HttpMessageBase(NativeResource):
     def __init__(self, binding, headers, body_stream=None):
         assert isinstance(headers, HttpHeaders)
 
-        super(HttpMessageBase, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
         self._binding = binding
         self._headers = headers
 
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ def __init__(self, method='GET', path='/', headers=None, body_stream=None):
             headers = HttpHeaders()
 
         binding = _awscrt.http_message_new_request(headers)
-        super(HttpRequest, self).__init__(binding, headers, body_stream)
+        super().__init__(binding, headers, body_stream)
         self.method = method
         self.path = path
 
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@ class HttpHeaders(NativeResource):
     __slots__ = ()
 
     def __init__(self, name_value_pairs=None):
-        super(HttpHeaders, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
         self._binding = _awscrt.http_headers_new()
         if name_value_pairs:
             self.add_pairs(name_value_pairs)
@@ -435,8 +435,8 @@ def add(self, name, value):
             name (str): Name.
             value (str): Value.
         """
-        assert isinstance_str(name)
-        assert isinstance_str(value)
+        assert isinstance(name, str)
+        assert isinstance(value, str)
         _awscrt.http_headers_add(self._binding, name, value)
 
     def add_pairs(self, name_value_pairs):
@@ -456,8 +456,8 @@ def set(self, name, value):
             name (str): Name.
             value (str): Value.
         """
-        assert isinstance_str(name)
-        assert isinstance_str(value)
+        assert isinstance(name, str)
+        assert isinstance(value, str)
         _awscrt.http_headers_set(self._binding, name, value)
 
     def get_values(self, name):
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ def get_values(self, name):
         Returns:
             Iterator[Tuple[str, str]]:
         """
-        assert isinstance_str(name)
+        assert isinstance(name, str)
         name = name.lower()
         for i in range(_awscrt.http_headers_count(self._binding)):
             name_i, value_i = _awscrt.http_headers_get_index(self._binding, i)
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ def get(self, name, default=None):
         Returns:
             str:
         """
-        assert isinstance_str(name)
+        assert isinstance(name, str)
         return _awscrt.http_headers_get(self._binding, name, default)
 
     def remove(self, name):
@@ -500,7 +500,7 @@ def remove(self, name):
         Args:
             name (str): Header name.
         """
-        assert isinstance_str(name)
+        assert isinstance(name, str)
         _awscrt.http_headers_remove(self._binding, name)
 
     def remove_value(self, name, value):
@@ -512,8 +512,8 @@ def remove_value(self, name, value):
             name (str): Name.
             value (str): Value.
         """
-        assert isinstance_str(name)
-        assert isinstance_str(value)
+        assert isinstance(name, str)
+        assert isinstance(value, str)
         _awscrt.http_headers_remove_value(self._binding, name, value)
 
     def clear(self):
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ class HttpProxyAuthenticationType(IntEnum):
     """Username and password"""
 
 
-class HttpProxyOptions(object):
+class HttpProxyOptions:
     """
     Proxy options for HTTP clients.
 
diff --git a/awscrt/io.py b/awscrt/io.py
index 322edc744..ba970a896 100644
--- a/awscrt/io.py
+++ b/awscrt/io.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 import _awscrt
-from awscrt import NativeResource, isinstance_str
+from awscrt import NativeResource
 from enum import IntEnum
 import io
 import threading
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class EventLoopGroup(NativeResource):
     __slots__ = ('shutdown_event')
 
     def __init__(self, num_threads=0):
-        super(EventLoopGroup, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
 
         shutdown_event = threading.Event()
 
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class DefaultHostResolver(HostResolverBase):
     def __init__(self, event_loop_group, max_hosts=16):
         assert isinstance(event_loop_group, EventLoopGroup)
 
-        super(DefaultHostResolver, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
         self._binding = _awscrt.host_resolver_new_default(max_hosts, event_loop_group)
 
 
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ def __init__(self, event_loop_group, host_resolver):
         assert isinstance(event_loop_group, EventLoopGroup)
         assert isinstance(host_resolver, HostResolverBase)
 
-        super(ClientBootstrap, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
 
         shutdown_event = threading.Event()
 
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ class SocketType(IntEnum):
     `SocketDomain.Local` is not compatible with `DGram` """
 
 
-class SocketOptions(object):
+class SocketOptions:
     """Socket options.
 
     Attributes:
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ class TlsVersion(IntEnum):
     DEFAULT = 128  #:
 
 
-class TlsContextOptions(object):
+class TlsContextOptions:
     """Options to create a TLS context.
 
     The static `TlsContextOptions.create_X()` methods provide common TLS configurations.
@@ -234,8 +234,8 @@ def create_client_with_mtls_from_path(cert_filepath, pk_filepath):
             TlsContextOptions:
         """
 
-        assert isinstance_str(cert_filepath)
-        assert isinstance_str(pk_filepath)
+        assert isinstance(cert_filepath, str)
+        assert isinstance(pk_filepath, str)
 
         cert_buffer = _read_binary_file(cert_filepath)
         key_buffer = _read_binary_file(pk_filepath)
@@ -282,8 +282,8 @@ def create_client_with_mtls_pkcs12(pkcs12_filepath, pkcs12_password):
             TlsContextOptions:
         """
 
-        assert isinstance_str(pkcs12_filepath)
-        assert isinstance_str(pkcs12_password)
+        assert isinstance(pkcs12_filepath, str)
+        assert isinstance(pkcs12_password, str)
 
         opt = TlsContextOptions()
         opt.pkcs12_filepath = pkcs12_filepath
@@ -307,8 +307,8 @@ def create_server_from_path(cert_filepath, pk_filepath):
             TlsContextOptions:
         """
 
-        assert isinstance_str(cert_filepath)
-        assert isinstance_str(pk_filepath)
+        assert isinstance(cert_filepath, str)
+        assert isinstance(pk_filepath, str)
 
         cert_buffer = _read_binary_file(cert_filepath)
         key_buffer = _read_binary_file(pk_filepath)
@@ -353,8 +353,8 @@ def create_server_pkcs12(pkcs12_filepath, pkcs12_password):
             TlsContextOptions:
         """
 
-        assert isinstance_str(pkcs12_filepath)
-        assert isinstance_str(pkcs12_password)
+        assert isinstance(pkcs12_filepath, str)
+        assert isinstance(pkcs12_password, str)
 
         opt = TlsContextOptions()
         opt.pkcs12_filepath = pkcs12_filepath
@@ -373,8 +373,8 @@ def override_default_trust_store_from_path(self, ca_dirpath=None, ca_filepath=No
                 of trusted CA certificates.
         """
 
-        assert isinstance_str(ca_dirpath) or ca_dirpath is None
-        assert isinstance_str(ca_filepath) or ca_filepath is None
+        assert isinstance(ca_dirpath, str) or ca_dirpath is None
+        assert isinstance(ca_filepath, str) or ca_filepath is None
 
         if ca_filepath:
             ca_buffer = _read_binary_file(ca_filepath)
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ class ClientTlsContext(NativeResource):
     def __init__(self, options):
         assert isinstance(options, TlsContextOptions)
 
-        super(ClientTlsContext, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
         self._binding = _awscrt.client_tls_ctx_new(
             options.min_tls_ver.value,
             options.ca_dirpath,
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@ class TlsConnectionOptions(NativeResource):
     def __init__(self, tls_ctx):
         assert isinstance(tls_ctx, ClientTlsContext)
 
-        super(TlsConnectionOptions, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
         self.tls_ctx = tls_ctx
         self._binding = _awscrt.tls_connections_options_new_from_ctx(tls_ctx)
 
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ def _alpn_list_to_str(alpn_list):
     None is returned if list is None or empty
     """
     if alpn_list:
-        assert not isinstance_str(alpn_list)
+        assert not isinstance(alpn_list, str)
         return ';'.join(alpn_list)
     return None
 
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ def __init__(self, stream):
         assert isinstance(stream, io.IOBase)
         assert not isinstance(stream, InputStream)
 
-        super(InputStream, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
         self._binding = _awscrt.input_stream_new(stream)
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/awscrt/mqtt.py b/awscrt/mqtt.py
index 1d60684a0..198529ecc 100644
--- a/awscrt/mqtt.py
+++ b/awscrt/mqtt.py
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ class ConnectReturnCode(IntEnum):
     """
 
 
-class Will(object):
+class Will:
     """A Will message is published by the server if a client is lost unexpectedly.
 
     The Will message is stored on the server when a client connects.
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ def __init__(self, bootstrap, tls_ctx=None):
         assert isinstance(bootstrap, ClientBootstrap)
         assert tls_ctx is None or isinstance(tls_ctx, ClientTlsContext)
 
-        super(Client, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
         self.tls_ctx = tls_ctx
         self._binding = _awscrt.mqtt_client_new(bootstrap, tls_ctx)
 
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ def __init__(self,
         if keep_alive_secs * 1000 <= ping_timeout_ms:
             raise ValueError("'keep_alive_secs' duration must be longer than 'ping_timeout_ms'")
 
-        super(Connection, self).__init__()
+        super().__init__()
 
         # init-only
         self.client = client
@@ -641,7 +641,7 @@ def puback(packet_id, error_code):
         return future, packet_id
 
 
-class WebsocketHandshakeTransformArgs(object):
+class WebsocketHandshakeTransformArgs:
     """
     Argument to a "websocket_handshake_transform" function.
 
diff --git a/builder.json b/builder.json
index b320e6c65..1515be45a 100644
--- a/builder.json
+++ b/builder.json
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@
                 "openssl_include": "/opt/openssl/include",
                 "openssl_lib": "/opt/openssl/lib"
             }
-        },
+        }
+    },
+    "hosts": {
         "manylinux": {
             "!build_steps": [
                 "manylinux-ci"
diff --git a/codebuild/cd/manylinux-x64-build.yml b/codebuild/cd/manylinux-x64-build.yml
index 11469541e..203a6e526 100644
--- a/codebuild/cd/manylinux-x64-build.yml
+++ b/codebuild/cd/manylinux-x64-build.yml
@@ -12,18 +12,12 @@ phases:
   build:
     commands:
       - echo Build started on `date`
-      - /opt/python/cp34-cp34m/bin/python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
-      - auditwheel repair --plat manylinux1_x86_64 dist/awscrt-*cp34-cp34m-linux_x86_64.whl
       - /opt/python/cp35-cp35m/bin/python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
       - auditwheel repair --plat manylinux1_x86_64 dist/awscrt-*cp35-cp35m-linux_x86_64.whl
       - /opt/python/cp36-cp36m/bin/python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
       - auditwheel repair --plat manylinux1_x86_64 dist/awscrt-*cp36-cp36m-linux_x86_64.whl
       - /opt/python/cp37-cp37m/bin/python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
       - auditwheel repair --plat manylinux1_x86_64 dist/awscrt-*cp37-cp37m-linux_x86_64.whl
-      - /opt/python/cp27-cp27m/bin/python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
-      - auditwheel repair --plat manylinux1_x86_64 dist/awscrt-*cp27-cp27m-linux_x86_64.whl
-      - /opt/python/cp27-cp27mu/bin/python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
-      - auditwheel repair --plat manylinux1_x86_64 dist/awscrt-*cp27-cp27mu-linux_x86_64.whl
       - cp -r wheelhouse ../dist
       - cp dist/*.tar.gz ../dist/
   post_build:
diff --git a/codebuild/cd/manylinux-x86-build.yml b/codebuild/cd/manylinux-x86-build.yml
index 330711b11..c401c02f7 100644
--- a/codebuild/cd/manylinux-x86-build.yml
+++ b/codebuild/cd/manylinux-x86-build.yml
@@ -12,18 +12,12 @@ phases:
   build:
     commands:
       - echo Build started on `date`
-      - /opt/python/cp34-cp34m/bin/python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
-      - auditwheel repair --plat manylinux1_i686 dist/awscrt-*cp34-cp34m-linux_i686.whl
       - /opt/python/cp35-cp35m/bin/python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
       - auditwheel repair --plat manylinux1_i686 dist/awscrt-*cp35-cp35m-linux_i686.whl
       - /opt/python/cp36-cp36m/bin/python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
       - auditwheel repair --plat manylinux1_i686 dist/awscrt-*cp36-cp36m-linux_i686.whl
       - /opt/python/cp37-cp37m/bin/python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
       - auditwheel repair --plat manylinux1_i686 dist/awscrt-*cp37-cp37m-linux_i686.whl
-      - /opt/python/cp27-cp27m/bin/python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
-      - auditwheel repair --plat manylinux1_i686 dist/awscrt-*cp27-cp27m-linux_i686.whl
-      - /opt/python/cp27-cp27mu/bin/python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
-      - auditwheel repair --plat manylinux1_i686 dist/awscrt-*cp27-cp27mu-linux_i686.whl
       - cp -r wheelhouse ../dist
   post_build:
     commands:
diff --git a/continuous-delivery/build-wheels-osx.sh b/continuous-delivery/build-wheels-osx.sh
index fc4fb8875..0aaab1d17 100755
--- a/continuous-delivery/build-wheels-osx.sh
+++ b/continuous-delivery/build-wheels-osx.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ set -e
 /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.8/bin/python3 ./continuous-delivery/update-version.py
 
 export MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET="10.9"
-/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python setup.py bdist_wheel
 /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.5/bin/python3 setup.py bdist_wheel
 /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.6/bin/python3 setup.py bdist_wheel
 /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.7/bin/python3 setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
diff --git a/continuous-delivery/build-wheels-win32.bat b/continuous-delivery/build-wheels-win32.bat
index f6b4675e0..d5a88f62d 100644
--- a/continuous-delivery/build-wheels-win32.bat
+++ b/continuous-delivery/build-wheels-win32.bat
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 
 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python38-32\python.exe" .\continuous-delivery\update-version.py || goto error
 
-"C:\Python27 (x86)\python.exe" setup.py sdist bdist_wheel || goto error
 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python35-32\python.exe" setup.py sdist bdist_wheel || goto error
 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python36-32\python.exe" setup.py sdist bdist_wheel || goto error
 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python37-32\python.exe" setup.py sdist bdist_wheel || goto error
diff --git a/continuous-delivery/build-wheels-win64.bat b/continuous-delivery/build-wheels-win64.bat
index 936ea1a9b..7371ca972 100644
--- a/continuous-delivery/build-wheels-win64.bat
+++ b/continuous-delivery/build-wheels-win64.bat
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 "C:\Program Files\Python38\python.exe" continuous-delivery\update-version.py || goto error
 
-"C:\Python27\python.exe" setup.py sdist bdist_wheel || goto error
 "C:\Program Files\Python35\python.exe" setup.py sdist bdist_wheel || goto error
 "C:\Program Files\Python36\python.exe" setup.py sdist bdist_wheel || goto error
 "C:\Program Files\Python37\python.exe" setup.py sdist bdist_wheel || goto error
diff --git a/continuous-delivery/sanity-check-test-pypi.bat b/continuous-delivery/sanity-check-test-pypi.bat
index c6e6b35e6..34bd2e67b 100644
--- a/continuous-delivery/sanity-check-test-pypi.bat
+++ b/continuous-delivery/sanity-check-test-pypi.bat
@@ -4,9 +4,6 @@ set CURRENT_VERSION=%TAG_VERSION:v=%
 "C:\Program Files\Python37\python.exe" -m pip install --no-cache-dir -i https://testpypi.python.org/simple --user awscrt==%CURRENT_VERSION% || goto error
 "C:\Program Files\Python37\python.exe" continuous-delivery\test-pip-install.py || goto error
 
-"C:\Python27\python.exe" -m pip install --no-cache-dir -i https://testpypi.python.org/simple --user awscrt==%CURRENT_VERSION% || goto error
-"C:\Python27\python.exe" continuous-delivery\test-pip-install.py || goto error
-
 goto :EOF
 
 :error
diff --git a/continuous-delivery/sanity-check-test-pypi.sh b/continuous-delivery/sanity-check-test-pypi.sh
index 29aa50d51..97c86ec82 100644
--- a/continuous-delivery/sanity-check-test-pypi.sh
+++ b/continuous-delivery/sanity-check-test-pypi.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,3 @@ set -ex
 CURRENT_TAG_VERSION=$(git describe --tags | cut -f2 -dv)
 python3 -m pip install --no-cache-dir -i https://testpypi.python.org/simple --user awscrt==$CURRENT_TAG_VERSION
 python3 continuous-delivery/test-pip-install.py
-
-python -m pip install --no-cache-dir -i https://testpypi.python.org/simple --user awscrt==$CURRENT_TAG_VERSION
-python continuous-delivery/test-pip-install.py
-
diff --git a/elasticurl.py b/elasticurl.py
index fe41dab94..1f2787120 100755
--- a/elasticurl.py
+++ b/elasticurl.py
@@ -4,12 +4,9 @@
 import argparse
 import sys
 import os
-from io import BytesIO, open  # Python2's built-in open() doesn't return a stream
+from io import BytesIO
 from awscrt import io, http
-try:
-    from urllib.parse import urlparse
-except ImportError:
-    from urlparse import urlparse
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 
 def print_header_list(headers):
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b26c78015..808dd99cc 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ def check_cmake_installed():
             raise Exception("'cmake' not found. cmake must be installed to build from source.")
 
 
-class AwsLib(object):
+class AwsLib:
     def __init__(self, name, extra_cmake_args=[]):
         self.name = name
         self.extra_cmake_args = extra_cmake_args
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ def run(self):
         self.library_dirs.append(os.path.join(DEP_INSTALL_PATH, lib_dir))
 
         # continue with normal build_ext.run()
-        setuptools.command.build_ext.build_ext.run(self)  # python2 breaks if we use super().run()
+        super().run()
 
 
 def awscrt_ext():
@@ -242,15 +242,11 @@ def awscrt_ext():
     url="https://github.com/awslabs/aws-crt-python",
     packages=['awscrt'],
     classifiers=[
-        "Programming Language :: Python :: 2",
         "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
         "License :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software License",
         "Operating System :: OS Independent",
     ],
-    install_requires=[
-        'enum34;python_version<"3.4"',
-        'futures;python_version<"3.2"',
-    ],
+    python_requires='>=3.5',
     ext_modules=[awscrt_ext()],
     cmdclass={'build_ext': awscrt_build_ext},
     test_suite='test',
diff --git a/source/auth_credentials.c b/source/auth_credentials.c
index 767c8969c..05c2cde41 100644
--- a/source/auth_credentials.c
+++ b/source/auth_credentials.c
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ static PyObject *s_credentials_get_member_str(PyObject *args, enum credentials_m
         Py_RETURN_NONE;
     }
 
-    return PyString_FromAwsByteCursor(&cursor);
+    return PyUnicode_FromAwsByteCursor(&cursor);
 }
 
 PyObject *aws_py_credentials_access_key_id(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
diff --git a/source/auth_signing_config.c b/source/auth_signing_config.c
index 995d6e142..72fb2b04c 100644
--- a/source/auth_signing_config.c
+++ b/source/auth_signing_config.c
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ PyObject *aws_py_signing_config_get_region(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    return PyString_FromAwsByteCursor(&binding->native.region);
+    return PyUnicode_FromAwsByteCursor(&binding->native.region);
 }
 
 PyObject *aws_py_signing_config_get_service(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ PyObject *aws_py_signing_config_get_service(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    return PyString_FromAwsByteCursor(&binding->native.service);
+    return PyUnicode_FromAwsByteCursor(&binding->native.service);
 }
 
 PyObject *aws_py_signing_config_get_date(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ PyObject *aws_py_signing_config_get_signed_body_value(PyObject *self, PyObject *
         Py_RETURN_NONE;
     }
 
-    return PyString_FromAwsByteCursor(&binding->native.signed_body_value);
+    return PyUnicode_FromAwsByteCursor(&binding->native.signed_body_value);
 }
 
 PyObject *aws_py_signing_config_get_signed_body_header_type(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
diff --git a/source/http_headers.c b/source/http_headers.c
index 9a1e7f01b..187cd7c0e 100644
--- a/source/http_headers.c
+++ b/source/http_headers.c
@@ -106,8 +106,8 @@ PyObject *aws_py_http_headers_add_pairs(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
             goto done;
         }
 
-        struct aws_byte_cursor name = aws_byte_cursor_from_pystring(PyTuple_GET_ITEM(py_pair, 0));
-        struct aws_byte_cursor value = aws_byte_cursor_from_pystring(PyTuple_GET_ITEM(py_pair, 1));
+        struct aws_byte_cursor name = aws_byte_cursor_from_pyunicode(PyTuple_GET_ITEM(py_pair, 0));
+        struct aws_byte_cursor value = aws_byte_cursor_from_pyunicode(PyTuple_GET_ITEM(py_pair, 1));
         if (!name.ptr || !value.ptr) {
             PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, type_errmsg);
             goto done;
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ PyObject *aws_py_http_headers_get(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
         return py_default;
     }
 
-    return PyString_FromAwsByteCursor(&value);
+    return PyUnicode_FromAwsByteCursor(&value);
 }
 
 static PyObject *s_py_tuple_from_header(struct aws_http_header header) {
@@ -160,12 +160,12 @@ static PyObject *s_py_tuple_from_header(struct aws_http_header header) {
     PyObject *py_value = NULL;
     PyObject *py_pair = NULL;
 
-    py_name = PyString_FromAwsByteCursor(&header.name);
+    py_name = PyUnicode_FromAwsByteCursor(&header.name);
     if (!py_name) {
         goto error;
     }
 
-    py_value = PyString_FromAwsByteCursor(&header.value);
+    py_value = PyUnicode_FromAwsByteCursor(&header.value);
     if (!py_value) {
         goto error;
     }
diff --git a/source/http_message.c b/source/http_message.c
index d938e6f54..687c45437 100644
--- a/source/http_message.c
+++ b/source/http_message.c
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ PyObject *aws_py_http_message_get_request_method(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
         Py_RETURN_NONE;
     }
 
-    return PyString_FromAwsByteCursor(&method);
+    return PyUnicode_FromAwsByteCursor(&method);
 }
 
 PyObject *aws_py_http_message_set_request_method(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ PyObject *aws_py_http_message_get_request_path(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
     if (aws_http_message_get_request_path(binding->native, &path)) {
         Py_RETURN_NONE;
     }
-    return PyString_FromAwsByteCursor(&path);
+    return PyUnicode_FromAwsByteCursor(&path);
 }
 
 PyObject *aws_py_http_message_set_request_path(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
diff --git a/source/http_proxy.c b/source/http_proxy.c
index 743affd57..4af156f6e 100644
--- a/source/http_proxy.c
+++ b/source/http_proxy.c
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ bool aws_py_http_proxy_options_init(struct aws_http_proxy_options *proxy_options
     PyObject *py_password = NULL;
 
     py_host_name = PyObject_GetAttrString(py_proxy_options, "host_name");
-    proxy_options->host = aws_byte_cursor_from_pystring(py_host_name);
+    proxy_options->host = aws_byte_cursor_from_pyunicode(py_host_name);
     if (!proxy_options->host.ptr) {
         PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "HttpProxyOptions.host_name is not a valid string");
         goto done;
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ bool aws_py_http_proxy_options_init(struct aws_http_proxy_options *proxy_options
 
     py_username = PyObject_GetAttrString(py_proxy_options, "auth_username");
     if (py_username != Py_None) {
-        proxy_options->auth_username = aws_byte_cursor_from_pystring(py_username);
+        proxy_options->auth_username = aws_byte_cursor_from_pyunicode(py_username);
         if (!proxy_options->auth_username.ptr) {
             PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "HttpProxyOptions.auth_username is not a valid string");
             goto done;
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ bool aws_py_http_proxy_options_init(struct aws_http_proxy_options *proxy_options
 
     py_password = PyObject_GetAttrString(py_proxy_options, "auth_password");
     if (py_password != Py_None) {
-        proxy_options->auth_password = aws_byte_cursor_from_pystring(py_password);
+        proxy_options->auth_password = aws_byte_cursor_from_pyunicode(py_password);
         if (!proxy_options->auth_password.ptr) {
             PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "HttpProxyOptions.auth_password is not a valid string");
             goto done;
diff --git a/source/http_stream.c b/source/http_stream.c
index c902373aa..9d34550d5 100644
--- a/source/http_stream.c
+++ b/source/http_stream.c
@@ -166,8 +166,7 @@ static int s_on_incoming_body(
         return AWS_OP_ERR; /* Python has shut down. Nothing matters anymore, but don't crash */
     }
 
-    PyObject *result = PyObject_CallMethod(
-        stream->self_proxy, "_on_body", "(" READABLE_BYTES_FORMAT_STR ")", (const char *)data->ptr, data_len);
+    PyObject *result = PyObject_CallMethod(stream->self_proxy, "_on_body", "(y#)", (const char *)data->ptr, data_len);
     if (!result) {
         aws_result = aws_py_raise_error();
         goto done;
@@ -200,12 +199,7 @@ static void s_on_stream_complete(struct aws_http_stream *native_stream, int erro
     }
 
     /* DECREF python self, we don't need to force it to stay alive any longer. */
-    PyObject *self = PyWeakref_GetObject(stream->self_proxy);
-    Py_DECREF(self);
-    /* Hack note. This use to be a one liner: Py_DECREF(PyWeakref_GetObject(stream->self_proxy));
-     * that would crash on Python 2, saying we were DECREF'ing Py_None.
-     * That should be impossible because we're forcing the python self to stay alive.
-     * I have no idea why splitting it into 2 lines fixes everything, but it does. */
+    Py_DECREF(PyWeakref_GetObject(stream->self_proxy));
 
     PyGILState_Release(state);
     /*************** GIL RELEASE ***************/
diff --git a/source/module.c b/source/module.c
index 94c15ecee..aba3344c6 100644
--- a/source/module.c
+++ b/source/module.c
@@ -70,43 +70,39 @@ PyObject *aws_py_init_logging(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
     Py_RETURN_NONE;
 }
 
-#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION == 3
-#    define UNICODE_GET_BYTES_FN PyUnicode_DATA
-#    define UNICODE_GET_BYTE_LEN_FN PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH
-#elif PY_MAJOR_VERSION == 2
-#    define UNICODE_GET_BYTES_FN PyUnicode_AS_DATA
-#    define UNICODE_GET_BYTE_LEN_FN PyUnicode_GET_DATA_SIZE
-#endif /* PY_MAJOR_VERSION */
-
-struct aws_byte_cursor aws_byte_cursor_from_pystring(PyObject *str) {
-    if (PyBytes_CheckExact(str)) {
-        return aws_byte_cursor_from_array(PyBytes_AsString(str), PyBytes_Size(str));
-    }
-    if (PyUnicode_CheckExact(str)) {
-        return aws_byte_cursor_from_array(UNICODE_GET_BYTES_FN(str), UNICODE_GET_BYTE_LEN_FN(str));
+struct aws_byte_cursor aws_byte_cursor_from_pyunicode(PyObject *str) {
+    Py_ssize_t len;
+    const char *ptr = PyUnicode_AsUTF8AndSize(str, &len);
+    if (ptr) {
+        return aws_byte_cursor_from_array(ptr, (size_t)len);
     }
-
     return aws_byte_cursor_from_array(NULL, 0);
 }
 
-PyObject *PyString_FromAwsString(const struct aws_string *aws_str) {
-    return PyString_FromStringAndSize(aws_string_c_str(aws_str), aws_str->len);
+struct aws_byte_cursor aws_byte_cursor_from_pybytes(PyObject *py_bytes) {
+    char *ptr;
+    Py_ssize_t len;
+    if (PyBytes_AsStringAndSize(py_bytes, &ptr, &len) == -1) {
+        return aws_byte_cursor_from_array(NULL, 0);
+    }
+
+    return aws_byte_cursor_from_array(ptr, (size_t)len);
 }
 
-int PyIntEnum_Check(PyObject *int_enum_obj) {
-#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION == 2
-    return PyInt_Check(int_enum_obj);
-#else
-    return PyLong_Check(int_enum_obj);
-#endif
+PyObject *PyUnicode_FromAwsByteCursor(const struct aws_byte_cursor *cursor) {
+    if (cursor->len > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_OverflowError, "Cursor exceeds PY_SSIZE_T_MAX");
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    return PyUnicode_FromStringAndSize((const char *)cursor->ptr, (Py_ssize_t)cursor->len);
 }
 
-long PyIntEnum_AsLong(PyObject *int_enum_obj) {
-#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION == 2
-    return PyInt_AsLong(int_enum_obj);
-#else
-    return PyLong_AsLong(int_enum_obj);
-#endif
+PyObject *PyUnicode_FromAwsString(const struct aws_string *aws_str) {
+    if (aws_str->len > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_OverflowError, "String exceeds PY_SSIZE_T_MAX");
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    return PyUnicode_FromStringAndSize(aws_string_c_str(aws_str), aws_str->len);
 }
 
 uint32_t PyObject_GetAttrAsUint32(PyObject *o, const char *class_name, const char *attr_name) {
@@ -204,12 +200,12 @@ int PyObject_GetAttrAsIntEnum(PyObject *o, const char *class_name, const char *a
         return result;
     }
 
-    if (!PyIntEnum_Check(attr)) {
+    if (!PyLong_Check(attr)) {
         PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError, "%s.%s is not a valid enum", class_name, attr_name);
         goto done;
     }
 
-    result = PyIntEnum_AsLong(attr);
+    result = PyLong_AsLong(attr);
 done:
     Py_DECREF(attr);
     return result;
@@ -246,11 +242,9 @@ static void s_error_map_init(void) {
         {PyExc_OverflowError, AWS_ERROR_OVERFLOW_DETECTED},
         {PyExc_TypeError, AWS_ERROR_INVALID_ARGUMENT},
         {PyExc_ValueError, AWS_ERROR_INVALID_ARGUMENT},
-#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION == 3
         {PyExc_FileNotFoundError, AWS_ERROR_FILE_INVALID_PATH},
         {PyExc_BlockingIOError, AWS_IO_READ_WOULD_BLOCK},
         {PyExc_BrokenPipeError, AWS_IO_BROKEN_PIPE},
-#endif
     };
 
     if (aws_hash_table_init(
@@ -332,7 +326,7 @@ PyObject *aws_py_get_error_name(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
     }
 
     const char *name = aws_error_name(error_code);
-    return PyString_FromString(name);
+    return PyUnicode_FromString(name);
 }
 
 PyObject *aws_py_get_error_message(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
@@ -343,7 +337,7 @@ PyObject *aws_py_get_error_message(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
     }
 
     const char *name = aws_error_str(error_code);
-    return PyString_FromString(name);
+    return PyUnicode_FromString(name);
 }
 
 PyObject *aws_py_memory_view_from_byte_buffer(struct aws_byte_buf *buf) {
@@ -355,18 +349,7 @@ PyObject *aws_py_memory_view_from_byte_buffer(struct aws_byte_buf *buf) {
 
     Py_ssize_t mem_size = available;
     char *mem_start = (char *)(buf->buffer + buf->len);
-
-#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION == 3
     return PyMemoryView_FromMemory(mem_start, mem_size, PyBUF_WRITE);
-#else
-    Py_buffer py_buf;
-    int read_only = 0;
-    if (PyBuffer_FillInfo(&py_buf, NULL /*obj*/, mem_start, mem_size, read_only, PyBUF_WRITABLE)) {
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
-    return PyMemoryView_FromBuffer(&py_buf);
-#endif /* PY_MAJOR_VERSION */
 }
 
 int aws_py_gilstate_ensure(PyGILState_STATE *out_state) {
@@ -570,22 +553,6 @@ PyDoc_STRVAR(s_module_doc, "C extension for binding AWS implementations of MQTT,
  * Module Init
  ******************************************************************************/
 
-static void s_module_init(void) {
-    s_install_crash_handler();
-
-    aws_http_library_init(aws_py_get_allocator());
-    aws_auth_library_init(aws_py_get_allocator());
-    aws_mqtt_library_init(aws_py_get_allocator());
-
-    if (!PyEval_ThreadsInitialized()) {
-        PyEval_InitThreads();
-    }
-
-    s_error_map_init();
-}
-
-#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION == 3
-
 PyMODINIT_FUNC PyInit__awscrt(void) {
     static struct PyModuleDef s_module_def = {
         PyModuleDef_HEAD_INIT,
@@ -604,20 +571,17 @@ PyMODINIT_FUNC PyInit__awscrt(void) {
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    s_module_init();
-    return m;
-}
+    s_install_crash_handler();
 
-#elif PY_MAJOR_VERSION == 2
+    aws_http_library_init(aws_py_get_allocator());
+    aws_auth_library_init(aws_py_get_allocator());
+    aws_mqtt_library_init(aws_py_get_allocator());
 
-PyMODINIT_FUNC init_awscrt(void) {
-    if (!Py_InitModule3(s_module_name, s_module_methods, s_module_doc)) {
-        AWS_FATAL_ASSERT(0 && "Failed to initialize _awscrt");
+    if (!PyEval_ThreadsInitialized()) {
+        PyEval_InitThreads();
     }
 
-    s_module_init();
-}
+    s_error_map_init();
 
-#else
-#    error Unsupported Python version
-#endif /* PY_MAJOR_VERSION */
+    return m;
+}
diff --git a/source/module.h b/source/module.h
index 757e83621..9a415b2ba 100644
--- a/source/module.h
+++ b/source/module.h
@@ -15,23 +15,12 @@
 #include <aws/common/common.h>
 
 struct aws_byte_buf;
+struct aws_byte_cursor;
 struct aws_string;
 
-#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION >= 3
-#    define PyString_FromStringAndSize PyUnicode_FromStringAndSize
-#    define PyString_FromString PyUnicode_FromString
-#    define READABLE_BYTES_FORMAT_STR "y#"
-#else
-#    define READABLE_BYTES_FORMAT_STR "s#"
-#endif /* PY_MAJOR_VERSION */
-
 /* AWS Specific Helpers */
-#define PyBool_FromAwsResult(result) PyBool_FromLong((result) == AWS_OP_SUCCESS)
-#define PyString_FromAwsByteCursor(cursor) PyString_FromStringAndSize((const char *)(cursor)->ptr, (cursor)->len)
-PyObject *PyString_FromAwsString(const struct aws_string *aws_str);
-
-int PyIntEnum_Check(PyObject *int_enum_obj);
-long PyIntEnum_AsLong(PyObject *int_enum_obj);
+PyObject *PyUnicode_FromAwsByteCursor(const struct aws_byte_cursor *cursor);
+PyObject *PyUnicode_FromAwsString(const struct aws_string *aws_str);
 
 /* Return the named attribute, converted to the specified type.
  * If conversion cannot occur a python exception is set (check PyExc_Occurred()) */
@@ -40,9 +29,13 @@ uint16_t PyObject_GetAttrAsUint16(PyObject *o, const char *class_name, const cha
 bool PyObject_GetAttrAsBool(PyObject *o, const char *class_name, const char *attr_name);
 int PyObject_GetAttrAsIntEnum(PyObject *o, const char *class_name, const char *attr_name);
 
-/* Create cursor from PyString, PyBytes, or PyUnicode.
- * If conversion cannot occur, cursor->ptr will be NULL but no python exception is set */
-struct aws_byte_cursor aws_byte_cursor_from_pystring(PyObject *str);
+/* Create cursor from PyUnicode.
+ * If conversion cannot occur, cursor->ptr will be NULL and a python exception is set */
+struct aws_byte_cursor aws_byte_cursor_from_pyunicode(PyObject *str);
+
+/* Create cursor from PyBytes.
+ * If conversion cannot occur, cursor->ptr will be NULL and a python exception is set */
+struct aws_byte_cursor aws_byte_cursor_from_pybytes(PyObject *py_bytes);
 
 /* Set current thread's error indicator based on aws_last_error() */
 void PyErr_SetAwsLastError(void);
diff --git a/source/mqtt_client_connection.c b/source/mqtt_client_connection.c
index 5e043ce6d..74a1c74d0 100644
--- a/source/mqtt_client_connection.c
+++ b/source/mqtt_client_connection.c
@@ -290,9 +290,9 @@ bool s_set_will(struct aws_mqtt_client_connection *connection, PyObject *will) {
     PyObject *py_payload = NULL;
 
     py_topic = PyObject_GetAttrString(will, "topic");
-    struct aws_byte_cursor topic = aws_byte_cursor_from_pystring(py_topic);
+    struct aws_byte_cursor topic = aws_byte_cursor_from_pyunicode(py_topic);
     if (!topic.ptr) {
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "Will.topic is invalid");
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "Will.topic must be str type");
         goto done;
     }
 
@@ -302,9 +302,9 @@ bool s_set_will(struct aws_mqtt_client_connection *connection, PyObject *will) {
     }
 
     py_payload = PyObject_GetAttrString(will, "payload");
-    struct aws_byte_cursor payload = aws_byte_cursor_from_pystring(py_payload);
+    struct aws_byte_cursor payload = aws_byte_cursor_from_pybytes(py_payload);
     if (!payload.ptr) {
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "Will.payload is invalid");
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "Will.payload must be bytes type");
         goto done;
     }
 
@@ -813,7 +813,7 @@ static void s_subscribe_callback(
     PyObject *result = PyObject_CallFunction(
         callback,
         "(NN)",
-        PyString_FromAwsByteCursor(topic),
+        PyUnicode_FromAwsByteCursor(topic),
         PyBytes_FromStringAndSize((const char *)payload->ptr, (Py_ssize_t)payload->len));
 
     if (result) {
diff --git a/test/__init__.py b/test/__init__.py
index 228b645db..c6f5c9961 100644
--- a/test/__init__.py
+++ b/test/__init__.py
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def _printobj(prefix, obj):
                 print('  gc.referrers():', len(referrers))
                 for r in referrers:
                     if isinstance(r, types.FrameType):
-                        print('  -', inspect.getframeinfo(r))
+                        _printobj('  -', inspect.getframeinfo(r))
                     else:
                         _printobj('  -', r)
 
diff --git a/test/test_auth.py b/test/test_auth.py
index 09dd26ef9..b230270d5 100644
--- a/test/test_auth.py
+++ b/test/test_auth.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 EXAMPLE_SESSION_TOKEN = 'example_session_token'
 
 
-class ScopedEnvironmentVariable(object):
+class ScopedEnvironmentVariable:
     """
     Set environment variable for lifetime of this object.
     """
@@ -238,7 +238,14 @@ def test_special_defaults(self):
 SIGV4TEST_SESSION_TOKEN = None
 SIGV4TEST_SERVICE = 'service'
 SIGV4TEST_REGION = 'us-east-1'
-SIGV4TEST_DATE = datetime.datetime(year=2015, month=8, day=30, hour=12, minute=36, second=0, tzinfo=awscrt.auth._utc)
+SIGV4TEST_DATE = datetime.datetime(
+    year=2015,
+    month=8,
+    day=30,
+    hour=12,
+    minute=36,
+    second=0,
+    tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc)
 
 
 class TestSigner(NativeResourceTest):
diff --git a/test/test_http_client.py b/test/test_http_client.py
index 7b6ffaed0..f85d6ae2d 100644
--- a/test/test_http_client.py
+++ b/test/test_http_client.py
@@ -6,33 +6,20 @@
 from awscrt.http import HttpClientConnection, HttpClientStream, HttpHeaders, HttpProxyOptions, HttpRequest, HttpVersion
 from awscrt.io import ClientBootstrap, ClientTlsContext, DefaultHostResolver, EventLoopGroup, TlsConnectionOptions, TlsContextOptions
 from concurrent.futures import Future
-from io import BytesIO, open  # Python2's built-in open() doesn't return a stream
+from http.server import HTTPServer, SimpleHTTPRequestHandler
+from io import BytesIO
 import os
 import ssl
 from test import NativeResourceTest
 import threading
-try:
-    from urllib.parse import urlparse
-except ImportError:
-    from urlparse import urlparse
 import unittest
-
-# Use a built-in Python HTTP server to test the awscrt's HTTP client
-try:
-    from http.server import HTTPServer, SimpleHTTPRequestHandler
-except ImportError:
-    # Simple HTTP server lives in a different places in Python3 vs Python2:
-    # http.server.HTTPServer               == SocketServer.TCPServer
-    # http.server.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler == SimpleHTTPServer.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler
-    from SimpleHTTPServer import SimpleHTTPRequestHandler
-    import SocketServer
-    HTTPServer = SocketServer.TCPServer
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 PROXY_HOST = os.environ.get('proxyhost')
 PROXY_PORT = int(os.environ.get('proxyport', '0'))
 
 
-class Response(object):
+class Response:
     """Holds contents of incoming response"""
 
     def __init__(self):
diff --git a/test/test_http_headers.py b/test/test_http_headers.py
index 3146176ff..4aade884b 100644
--- a/test/test_http_headers.py
+++ b/test/test_http_headers.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 
 from awscrt.http import HttpHeaders, HttpRequest
 import awscrt.io
-from io import open  # Python2's built-in open() doesn't return a stream
 from test import NativeResourceTest
 import unittest
 
@@ -50,6 +49,20 @@ def test_set(self):
         h.set('Host', 'example5.org')
         self.assertEqual(['example5.org'], list(h.get_values('Host')))
 
+    def test_unicode(self):
+        # test adding unicode values in all the different ways
+        h = HttpHeaders([('a', 'ሴ')])
+        self.assertEqual('ሴ', h.get('a'))
+
+        h.set('b', '𦉘')
+        self.assertEqual('𦉘', h.get('b'))
+
+        h.add('c', '👁👄👁')
+        self.assertEqual('👁👄👁', h.get('c'))
+
+        h.add_pairs([('d', 'ⓤţḟ⁻❽')])
+        self.assertEqual('ⓤţḟ⁻❽', h.get('d'))
+
     def test_get_none(self):
         h = HttpHeaders()
         self.assertIsNone(h.get('Non-Existent'))
@@ -141,7 +154,7 @@ def test_headers_live_after_message_del(self):
         headers.add('Cookie', 'a=1')
         self.assertEqual([('Cookie', 'a=1')], list(headers))
 
-    def test_utf8(self):
+    def test_unicode(self):
         request = HttpRequest(path='/ሴ')
         self.assertEqual('/ሴ', request.path)
 
diff --git a/test/test_mqtt.py b/test/test_mqtt.py
index eb14af6be..870a80a25 100644
--- a/test/test_mqtt.py
+++ b/test/test_mqtt.py
@@ -50,10 +50,7 @@ def get():
 
         # boto3 caches the HTTPS connection for the API calls, which appears to the unit test
         # framework as a leak, so ignore it, that's not what we're testing here
-        try:
-            warnings.simplefilter('ignore', ResourceWarning)
-        except NameError:  # Python 2 has no ResourceWarning
-            pass
+        warnings.simplefilter('ignore', ResourceWarning)
 
         try:
             secrets = boto3.client('secretsmanager')