diff --git a/youtube_dl/FileDownloader.py b/youtube_dl/FileDownloader.py
index 870c82272..815b81296 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/FileDownloader.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/FileDownloader.py
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ class FileDownloader(object):
 			template_dict['autonumber'] = u'%05d' % self._num_downloads
 
 			template_dict = dict((key, u'NA' if val is None else val) for key, val in template_dict.items())
-			template_dict = dict((k, sanitize_filename(u(v), self.params.get('restrictfilenames'))) for k,v in template_dict.items())
+			template_dict = dict((k, sanitize_filename(compat_str(v), self.params.get('restrictfilenames'))) for k,v in template_dict.items())
 
 			filename = self.params['outtmpl'] % template_dict
 			return filename
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ class FileDownloader(object):
 			if dn != '' and not os.path.exists(dn): # dn is already encoded
 				os.makedirs(dn)
 		except (OSError, IOError), err:
-			self.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to create directory ' + u(err))
+			self.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to create directory ' + compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		if self.params.get('writedescription', False):
diff --git a/youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py b/youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py
index 3b5be1d42..f0d3e0c63 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ class YoutubeIE(InfoExtractor):
 				else:
 					raise netrc.NetrcParseError('No authenticators for %s' % self._NETRC_MACHINE)
 			except (IOError, netrc.NetrcParseError), err:
-				self._downloader.to_stderr(u'WARNING: parsing .netrc: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.to_stderr(u'WARNING: parsing .netrc: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 
 		# Set language
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ class YoutubeIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_lang()
 			urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.to_stderr(u'WARNING: unable to set language: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.to_stderr(u'WARNING: unable to set language: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# No authentication to be performed
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ class YoutubeIE(InfoExtractor):
 				self._downloader.to_stderr(u'WARNING: unable to log in: bad username or password')
 				return
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.to_stderr(u'WARNING: unable to log in: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.to_stderr(u'WARNING: unable to log in: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Confirm age
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ class YoutubeIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_age_confirmation()
 			age_results = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to confirm age: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to confirm age: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 	def _real_extract(self, url):
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ class YoutubeIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			video_webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Attempt to extract SWF player URL
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ class YoutubeIE(InfoExtractor):
 				if 'token' in video_info:
 					break
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video info webpage: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video info webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 		if 'token' not in video_info:
 			if 'reason' in video_info:
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ class YoutubeIE(InfoExtractor):
 				try:
 					srt_list = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 				except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-					raise Trouble(u'WARNING: unable to download video subtitles: %s' % u(err))
+					raise Trouble(u'WARNING: unable to download video subtitles: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				srt_lang_list = re.findall(r'name="([^"]*)"[^>]+lang_code="([\w\-]+)"', srt_list)
 				srt_lang_list = dict((l[1], l[0]) for l in srt_lang_list)
 				if not srt_lang_list:
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ class YoutubeIE(InfoExtractor):
 				try:
 					srt_xml = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 				except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-					raise Trouble(u'WARNING: unable to download video subtitles: %s' % u(err))
+					raise Trouble(u'WARNING: unable to download video subtitles: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				if not srt_xml:
 					raise Trouble(u'WARNING: unable to download video subtitles')
 				video_subtitles = self._closed_captions_xml_to_srt(srt_xml.decode('utf-8'))
@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ class MetacafeIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_disclaimer()
 			disclaimer = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to retrieve disclaimer: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to retrieve disclaimer: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Confirm age
@@ -557,7 +557,7 @@ class MetacafeIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_age_confirmation()
 			disclaimer = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to confirm age: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to confirm age: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 	def _real_extract(self, url):
@@ -581,7 +581,7 @@ class MetacafeIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_webpage(video_id)
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Extract URL, uploader and title from webpage
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ class DailymotionIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_webpage(video_id)
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Extract URL, uploader and title from webpage
@@ -768,7 +768,7 @@ class GoogleIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_webpage(video_id)
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Extract URL, uploader, and title from webpage
@@ -807,7 +807,7 @@ class GoogleIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 			mobj = re.search(r'<img class=thumbnail-img (?:.* )?src=(http.*)>', webpage)
 			if mobj is None:
@@ -861,7 +861,7 @@ class PhotobucketIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_webpage(video_id)
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Extract URL, uploader, and title from webpage
@@ -929,7 +929,7 @@ class YahooIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 
 			mobj = re.search(r'\("id", "([0-9]+)"\);', webpage)
@@ -953,7 +953,7 @@ class YahooIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_webpage(video_id)
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Extract uploader and title from webpage
@@ -1011,7 +1011,7 @@ class YahooIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_webpage(video_id)
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Extract media URL from playlist XML
@@ -1067,7 +1067,7 @@ class VimeoIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_webpage(video_id)
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Now we begin extracting as much information as we can from what we
@@ -1173,7 +1173,7 @@ class ArteTvIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_webpage(url)
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 		except ValueError, err:
 			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Invalid URL: %s' % url)
@@ -1369,7 +1369,7 @@ class GenericIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_webpage(video_id)
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 		except ValueError, err:
 			# since this is the last-resort InfoExtractor, if
@@ -1488,7 +1488,7 @@ class YoutubeSearchIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				data = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download API page: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download API page: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 			api_response = json.loads(data)['data']
 
@@ -1565,7 +1565,7 @@ class GoogleSearchIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				page = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 
 			# Extract video identifiers
@@ -1648,7 +1648,7 @@ class YahooSearchIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				page = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 
 			# Extract video identifiers
@@ -1718,7 +1718,7 @@ class YoutubePlaylistIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				page = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 
 			# Extract video identifiers
@@ -1775,7 +1775,7 @@ class YoutubeChannelIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				page = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 
 			# Extract video identifiers
@@ -1838,7 +1838,7 @@ class YoutubeUserIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				page = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 
 			# Extract video identifiers
@@ -1910,7 +1910,7 @@ class BlipTVUserIE(InfoExtractor):
 			mobj = re.search(r'data-users-id="([^"]+)"', page)
 			page_base = page_base % mobj.group(1)
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 
@@ -1998,7 +1998,7 @@ class DepositFilesIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_webpage(file_id)
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve file webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve file webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Search for the real file URL
@@ -2114,7 +2114,7 @@ class FacebookIE(InfoExtractor):
 				else:
 					raise netrc.NetrcParseError('No authenticators for %s' % self._NETRC_MACHINE)
 			except (IOError, netrc.NetrcParseError), err:
-				self._downloader.to_stderr(u'WARNING: parsing .netrc: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.to_stderr(u'WARNING: parsing .netrc: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 
 		if useremail is None:
@@ -2134,7 +2134,7 @@ class FacebookIE(InfoExtractor):
 				self._downloader.to_stderr(u'WARNING: unable to log in: bad username/password, or exceded login rate limit (~3/min). Check credentials or wait.')
 				return
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.to_stderr(u'WARNING: unable to log in: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.to_stderr(u'WARNING: unable to log in: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 	def _real_extract(self, url):
@@ -2151,7 +2151,7 @@ class FacebookIE(InfoExtractor):
 			page = urllib2.urlopen(request)
 			video_webpage = page.read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Start extracting information
@@ -2286,13 +2286,13 @@ class BlipTVIE(InfoExtractor):
 					'urlhandle': urlh
 				}
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video info webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video info webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 		if info is None: # Regular URL
 			try:
 				json_code = urlh.read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to read video info webpage: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to read video info webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 
 			try:
@@ -2360,7 +2360,7 @@ class MyVideoIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_webpage(video_id)
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		self.report_extraction(video_id)
@@ -2457,7 +2457,7 @@ class ComedyCentralIE(InfoExtractor):
 			htmlHandle = urllib2.urlopen(req)
 			html = htmlHandle.read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 		if dlNewest:
 			url = htmlHandle.geturl()
@@ -2490,7 +2490,7 @@ class ComedyCentralIE(InfoExtractor):
 			urlHandle = urllib2.urlopen(playerUrl_raw)
 			playerUrl = urlHandle.geturl()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to find out player URL: ' + u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to find out player URL: ' + compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		uri = mMovieParams[0][1]
@@ -2499,7 +2499,7 @@ class ComedyCentralIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			indexXml = urllib2.urlopen(indexUrl).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download episode index: ' + u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download episode index: ' + compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		results = []
@@ -2520,7 +2520,7 @@ class ComedyCentralIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				configXml = urllib2.urlopen(configReq).read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 
 			cdoc = xml.etree.ElementTree.fromstring(configXml)
@@ -2603,7 +2603,7 @@ class EscapistIE(InfoExtractor):
 			m = re.match(r'text/html; charset="?([^"]+)"?', webPage.headers['Content-Type'])
 			webPage = webPageBytes.decode(m.group(1) if m else 'utf-8')
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: ' + u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download webpage: ' + compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		descMatch = re.search('<meta name="description" content="([^"]*)"', webPage)
@@ -2619,7 +2619,7 @@ class EscapistIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			configJSON = urllib2.urlopen(configUrl).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download configuration: ' + u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download configuration: ' + compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Technically, it's JavaScript, not JSON
@@ -2628,7 +2628,7 @@ class EscapistIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			config = json.loads(configJSON)
 		except (ValueError,), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Invalid JSON in configuration file: ' + u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Invalid JSON in configuration file: ' + compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		playlist = config['playlist']
@@ -2675,7 +2675,7 @@ class CollegeHumorIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		m = re.search(r'id="video:(?P<internalvideoid>[0-9]+)"', webpage)
@@ -2696,7 +2696,7 @@ class CollegeHumorIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			metaXml = urllib2.urlopen(xmlUrl).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video info XML: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video info XML: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		mdoc = xml.etree.ElementTree.fromstring(metaXml)
@@ -2741,7 +2741,7 @@ class XVideosIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		self.report_extraction(video_id)
@@ -2825,7 +2825,7 @@ class SoundcloudIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		self.report_extraction('%s/%s' % (uploader, slug_title))
@@ -2860,7 +2860,7 @@ class SoundcloudIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				upload_date = datetime.datetime.strptime(mobj.group(1), '%B %d, %Y %H:%M').strftime('%Y%m%d')
 			except Exception, e:
-				self._downloader.to_stderr(u(e))
+				self._downloader.to_stderr(compat_str(e))
 
 		# for soundcloud, a request to a cross domain is required for cookies
 		request = urllib2.Request('http://media.soundcloud.com/crossdomain.xml', std_headers)
@@ -2902,7 +2902,7 @@ class InfoQIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		self.report_extraction(url)
@@ -3014,7 +3014,7 @@ class MixcloudIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_json(file_url)
 			jsonData = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve file: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve file: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# parse JSON
@@ -3093,7 +3093,7 @@ class StanfordOpenClassroomIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				metaXml = urllib2.urlopen(xmlUrl).read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video info XML: %s' % u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video info XML: %s' % compat_str(err))
 				return
 			mdoc = xml.etree.ElementTree.fromstring(metaXml)
 			try:
@@ -3117,7 +3117,7 @@ class StanfordOpenClassroomIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				coursepage = urllib2.urlopen(url).read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download course info page: ' + u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download course info page: ' + compat_str(err))
 				return
 
 			m = re.search('<h1>([^<]+)</h1>', coursepage)
@@ -3156,7 +3156,7 @@ class StanfordOpenClassroomIE(InfoExtractor):
 			try:
 				rootpage = urllib2.urlopen(rootURL).read()
 			except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download course info page: ' + u(err))
+				self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download course info page: ' + compat_str(err))
 				return
 
 			info['title'] = info['id']
@@ -3203,7 +3203,7 @@ class MTVIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		mobj = re.search(r'<meta name="mtv_vt" content="([^"]+)"/>', webpage)
@@ -3236,7 +3236,7 @@ class MTVIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			metadataXml = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video metadata: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: unable to download video metadata: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		mdoc = xml.etree.ElementTree.fromstring(metadataXml)
@@ -3324,7 +3324,7 @@ class YoukuIE(InfoExtractor):
 			self.report_download_webpage(video_id)
 			jsondata = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error) as err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		self.report_extraction(video_id)
@@ -3498,7 +3498,7 @@ class GooglePlusIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve entry webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve entry webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 
 		# Extract update date
@@ -3540,7 +3540,7 @@ class GooglePlusIE(InfoExtractor):
 		try:
 			webpage = urllib2.urlopen(request).read()
 		except (urllib2.URLError, httplib.HTTPException, socket.error), err:
-			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % u(err))
+			self._downloader.trouble(u'ERROR: Unable to retrieve video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 			return
 		self.report_extract_vid_page(video_page)
 
diff --git a/youtube_dl/utils.py b/youtube_dl/utils.py
index bde446bcb..4d098a377 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/utils.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/utils.py
@@ -27,9 +27,9 @@ std_headers = {
 }
 
 try:
-	u = unicode # Python 2
+	compat_str = unicode # Python 2
 except NameError:
-	u = str
+	compat_str = str
 
 def preferredencoding():
 	"""Get preferred encoding.