diff --git a/distro.py b/distro.py
index 3ce45af..0287eb8 100755
--- a/distro.py
+++ b/distro.py
@@ -757,7 +757,7 @@ def version(self, pretty=False, best=False):
                     version = v
                     break
         if pretty and version and self.codename():
-            version = u'{0} ({1})'.format(version, self.codename())
+            version = '{0} ({1})'.format(version, self.codename())
         return version
 
     def version_parts(self, best=False):
@@ -967,8 +967,6 @@ def _parse_os_release_content(lines):
             # * commands or their arguments (not allowed in os-release)
             if '=' in token:
                 k, v = token.split('=', 1)
-                if isinstance(v, bytes):
-                    v = v.decode('utf-8')
                 props[k.lower()] = v
             else:
                 # Ignore any tokens that are not variable assignments
@@ -1012,7 +1010,7 @@ def _lsb_release_info(self):
                 stdout = subprocess.check_output(cmd, stderr=devnull)
             except OSError:  # Command not found
                 return {}
-        content = stdout.decode(sys.getfilesystemencoding()).splitlines()
+        content = self._to_str(stdout).splitlines()
         return self._parse_lsb_release_content(content)
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -1047,7 +1045,7 @@ def _uname_info(self):
                 stdout = subprocess.check_output(cmd, stderr=devnull)
             except OSError:
                 return {}
-        content = stdout.decode(sys.getfilesystemencoding()).splitlines()
+        content = self._to_str(stdout).splitlines()
         return self._parse_uname_content(content)
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -1067,6 +1065,20 @@ def _parse_uname_content(lines):
             props['release'] = version
         return props
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _to_str(text):
+        encoding = sys.getfilesystemencoding()
+        encoding = 'utf-8' if encoding == 'ascii' else encoding
+
+        if sys.version_info[0] >= 3:
+            if isinstance(text, bytes):
+                return text.decode(encoding)
+        else:
+            if isinstance(text, unicode):  # noqa
+                return text.encode(encoding)
+
+        return text
+
     @cached_property
     def _distro_release_info(self):
         """
@@ -1169,8 +1181,6 @@ def _parse_distro_release_content(line):
         Returns:
             A dictionary containing all information items.
         """
-        if isinstance(line, bytes):
-            line = line.decode('utf-8')
         matches = _DISTRO_RELEASE_CONTENT_REVERSED_PATTERN.match(
             line.strip()[::-1])
         distro_info = {}
diff --git a/tests/test_distro.py b/tests/test_distro.py
index 5521068..b84e074 100644
--- a/tests/test_distro.py
+++ b/tests/test_distro.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# coding=utf-8
 # Copyright 2015,2016 Nir Cohen
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
@@ -191,11 +192,11 @@ def test_fedora19_os_release(self):
         desired_outcome = {
             'id': 'fedora',
             'name': 'Fedora',
-            'pretty_name': u'Fedora 19 (Schr\u00F6dinger\u2019s Cat)',
+            'pretty_name': 'Fedora 19 (Schrödinger’s Cat)',
             'version': '19',
-            'pretty_version': u'19 (Schr\u00F6dinger\u2019s Cat)',
+            'pretty_version': '19 (Schrödinger’s Cat)',
             'best_version': '19',
-            'codename': u'Schr\u00F6dinger\u2019s Cat'
+            'codename': 'Schrödinger’s Cat'
         }
         self._test_outcome(desired_outcome)
 
@@ -703,11 +704,11 @@ def test_fedora19_dist_release(self):
         desired_outcome = {
             'id': 'fedora',
             'name': 'Fedora',
-            'pretty_name': u'Fedora 19 (Schr\u00F6dinger\u2019s Cat)',
+            'pretty_name': 'Fedora 19 (Schrödinger’s Cat)',
             'version': '19',
-            'pretty_version': u'19 (Schr\u00F6dinger\u2019s Cat)',
+            'pretty_version': '19 (Schrödinger’s Cat)',
             'best_version': '19',
-            'codename': u'Schr\u00F6dinger\u2019s Cat',
+            'codename': 'Schrödinger’s Cat',
             'major_version': '19'
         }
         self._test_outcome(desired_outcome, 'fedora', '19')
@@ -1078,11 +1079,11 @@ def test_fedora19_release(self):
         desired_outcome = {
             'id': 'fedora',
             'name': 'Fedora',
-            'pretty_name': u'Fedora 19 (Schr\u00F6dinger\u2019s Cat)',
+            'pretty_name': 'Fedora 19 (Schrödinger’s Cat)',
             'version': '19',
-            'pretty_version': u'19 (Schr\u00F6dinger\u2019s Cat)',
+            'pretty_version': '19 (Schrödinger’s Cat)',
             'best_version': '19',
-            'codename': u'Schr\u00F6dinger\u2019s Cat',
+            'codename': 'Schrödinger’s Cat',
             'major_version': '19'
         }
         self._test_outcome(desired_outcome)
@@ -1091,7 +1092,7 @@ def test_fedora19_release(self):
             'id': 'fedora',
             'name': 'Fedora',
             'version_id': '19',
-            'codename': u'Schr\u00F6dinger\u2019s Cat'
+            'codename': 'Schrödinger’s Cat'
         }
         self._test_release_file_info('fedora-release', desired_info)
 
@@ -1618,7 +1619,7 @@ def _bad_os_listdir(path='.'):
     raise OSError()
 
 
-@pytest.mark.skipIf(not IS_LINUX, reason='Irrelevant on non-linx')
+@pytest.mark.skipif(not IS_LINUX, reason='Irrelevant on non-linx')
 class TestOverallWithEtcNotReadable(TestOverall):
     def setup_method(self, test_method):
         self._old_listdir = os.listdir
@@ -2060,3 +2061,20 @@ def test_repr(self):
         assert "LinuxDistribution" in repr_str
         for attr in MODULE_DISTRO.__dict__.keys():
             assert attr + '=' in repr_str
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(not IS_LINUX, reason='Irrelevant on non-linux')
+class TestToStr:
+    """Test the _to_str() method.
+    """
+
+    def test_to_str(self):
+        ret = distro.LinuxDistribution._to_str(b'bytes')
+        assert isinstance(ret, str)
+        assert ret == 'bytes'
+
+        ret = distro.LinuxDistribution._to_str(u'bytes')
+        assert isinstance(ret, str)
+
+        ret = distro.LinuxDistribution._to_str('bytes')
+        assert isinstance(ret, str)