diff --git a/kombu/compression.py b/kombu/compression.py
index e6f04702..e7905d3d 100644
--- a/kombu/compression.py
+++ b/kombu/compression.py
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ Compression utilities.
 :license: BSD, see LICENSE for more details.
 
 """
+import bz2
+import zlib
 
 _aliases = {}
 _encoders = {}
@@ -52,7 +54,7 @@ def compress(body, content_type):
 
     """
     encoder, content_type = get_encoder(content_type)
-    return encoder(body), content_type
+    return encoder(body.encode("utf-8")), content_type
 
 
 def decompress(body, content_type):
@@ -62,12 +64,12 @@ def decompress(body, content_type):
     :param content_type: mime-type of compression method used.
 
     """
-    return get_decoder(content_type)(body)
+    return get_decoder(content_type)(body).decode("utf-8")
 
 
-register(lambda x: x.encode("zlib"),
-         lambda x: x.decode("zlib"),
+register(zlib.compress,
+         zlib.decompress,
          "application/x-gzip", aliases=["gzip", "zlib"])
-register(lambda x: x.encode("bz2"),
-         lambda x: x.decode("bz2"),
+register(bz2.compress,
+         bz2.decompress,
          "application/x-bz2", aliases=["bzip2", "bzip"])
diff --git a/kombu/serialization.py b/kombu/serialization.py
index bb9a78a0..cecb252a 100644
--- a/kombu/serialization.py
+++ b/kombu/serialization.py
@@ -8,8 +8,14 @@ Serialization utilities.
 :license: BSD, see LICENSE for more details.
 
 """
-
 import codecs
+import sys
+
+
+bytes_type = str
+if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):
+    bytes_type = bytes
+
 
 
 class SerializerNotInstalled(StandardError):
@@ -62,7 +68,7 @@ class SerializerRegistry(object):
         # If a raw string was sent, assume binary encoding
         # (it's likely either ASCII or a raw binary file, but 'binary'
         # charset will encompass both, even if not ideal.
-        if not serializer and isinstance(data, str):
+        if not serializer and isinstance(data, bytes_type):
             # In Python 3+, this would be "bytes"; allow binary data to be
             # sent as a message without getting encoder errors
             return "application/data", "binary", data
diff --git a/kombu/simple.py b/kombu/simple.py
index 01ac867e..dbbaa2de 100644
--- a/kombu/simple.py
+++ b/kombu/simple.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class SimpleBase(object):
             if self.buffer:
                 return self.buffer.pop()
             try:
-                self.channel.connection.drain_events(
+                self.channel.connection.client.drain_events(
                             timeout=timeout and remaining)
             except socket.timeout:
                 raise Empty()
diff --git a/kombu/tests/mocks.py b/kombu/tests/mocks.py
index d34ca473..dfcff423 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/mocks.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/mocks.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from itertools import count
 
-import simplejson
+import anyjson
 
 from kombu.transport import base
 
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ class Channel(object):
 
     def message_to_python(self, message, *args, **kwargs):
         self._called("message_to_python")
-        return Message(self, body=simplejson.dumps(message),
+        return Message(self, body=anyjson.serialize(message),
                 delivery_tag=self.deliveries(),
                 throw_decode_error=self.throw_decode_error,
                 content_type="application/json", content_encoding="utf-8")
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_compat.py b/kombu/tests/test_compat.py
index 86a1925f..d0cb5a67 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_compat.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_compat.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from kombu import BrokerConnection, Exchange
 from kombu import compat
@@ -161,7 +161,6 @@ class test_Consumer(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_iter(self, n="test_iterqueue"):
         c = compat.Consumer(self.connection, queue=n, exchange=n,
                             routing_key="rkey")
-        self.assertTrue(hasattr(c.__iter__(), "next"))
         c.close()
 
     def test_process_next(self, n="test_process_next"):
@@ -173,7 +172,6 @@ class test_Consumer(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_iterconsume(self, n="test_iterconsume"):
         c = compat.Consumer(self.connection, queue=n, exchange=n,
                             routing_key="rkey")
-        self.assertTrue(hasattr(c.iterconsume(), "next"))
         c.close()
 
     def test_discard_all(self, n="test_discard_all"):
@@ -256,8 +254,6 @@ class test_ConsumerSet(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(len(c.queues), 3)
         self.assertEqual(len(c2.queues), 2)
 
-        self.assertTrue(hasattr(c.iterconsume(), "next"))
-
         c.add_consumer(compat.Consumer(self.connection,
                                        queue=prefix + "xaxxxa",
                                        exchange=prefix + "xaxxxa"))
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_compression.py b/kombu/tests/test_compression.py
index 2f509c38..762c8c41 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_compression.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_compression.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from kombu import compression
 
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_connection.py b/kombu/tests/test_connection.py
index a6118579..f8ba0e0e 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_connection.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_connection.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import pickle
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from kombu.connection import BrokerConnection, Resource
 
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_entities.py b/kombu/tests/test_entities.py
index 9cf9f578..fd536b27 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_entities.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_entities.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from kombu.entity import Exchange, Queue
 from kombu.exceptions import NotBoundError
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_messaging.py b/kombu/tests/test_messaging.py
index b4e327dd..751f8587 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_messaging.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_messaging.py
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
-import simplejson
+import anyjson
 
 from kombu.connection import BrokerConnection
 from kombu.exceptions import MessageStateError
 from kombu.messaging import Consumer, Producer
 from kombu.entity import Exchange, Queue
+from kombu.serialization import bytes_type
 
 from kombu.tests.mocks import Transport
 
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ class test_Producer(unittest.TestCase):
         channel = self.connection.channel()
         p = Producer(channel, self.exchange, serializer="json")
         m, ctype, cencoding = p._prepare(message, headers={})
-        self.assertDictEqual(message, simplejson.loads(m))
+        self.assertDictEqual(message, anyjson.deserialize(m))
         self.assertEqual(ctype, "application/json")
         self.assertEqual(cencoding, "utf-8")
 
@@ -57,10 +58,12 @@ class test_Producer(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(ctype, "application/json")
         self.assertEqual(cencoding, "utf-8")
         self.assertEqual(headers["compression"], "application/x-gzip")
-        self.assertEqual(simplejson.loads(m.decode("zlib")), message)
+        import zlib
+        self.assertEqual(anyjson.deserialize(
+                            zlib.decompress(m).decode("utf-8")), message)
 
     def test_prepare_custom_content_type(self):
-        message = "the quick brown fox"
+        message = "the quick brown fox".encode("utf-8")
         channel = self.connection.channel()
         p = Producer(channel, self.exchange, serializer="json")
         m, ctype, cencoding = p._prepare(message, content_type="custom")
@@ -78,12 +81,12 @@ class test_Producer(unittest.TestCase):
         channel = self.connection.channel()
         p = Producer(channel, self.exchange, serializer="json")
         m, ctype, cencoding = p._prepare(message, content_type="text/plain")
-        self.assertEqual(m, message)
+        self.assertEqual(m, message.encode("utf-8"))
         self.assertEqual(ctype, "text/plain")
         self.assertEqual(cencoding, "utf-8")
         m, ctype, cencoding = p._prepare(message, content_type="text/plain",
                                         content_encoding="utf-8")
-        self.assertEqual(m, message)
+        self.assertEqual(m, message.encode("utf-8"))
         self.assertEqual(ctype, "text/plain")
         self.assertEqual(cencoding, "utf-8")
 
@@ -96,7 +99,7 @@ class test_Producer(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIn("basic_publish", channel)
 
         m, exc, rkey = ret
-        self.assertDictEqual(message, simplejson.loads(m["body"]))
+        self.assertDictEqual(message, anyjson.deserialize(m["body"]))
         self.assertDictContainsSubset({"content_type": "application/json",
                                        "content_encoding": "utf-8",
                                        "priority": 0}, m)
@@ -371,7 +374,7 @@ class test_Consumer(unittest.TestCase):
 
         self.assertTrue(thrown)
         m, exc = thrown[0]
-        self.assertEqual(simplejson.loads(m), {"foo": "bar"})
+        self.assertEqual(anyjson.deserialize(m), {"foo": "bar"})
         self.assertIsInstance(exc, ValueError)
 
     def test_recover(self):
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_pidbox.py b/kombu/tests/test_pidbox.py
index e24be772..c77f0186 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_pidbox.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_pidbox.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from kombu import pidbox
 from kombu.connection import BrokerConnection
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_serialization.py b/kombu/tests/test_serialization.py
index 046db7c1..1e515e9e 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_serialization.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_serialization.py
@@ -3,13 +3,13 @@
 
 import cPickle as pickle
 import sys
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from nose import SkipTest
 
 from kombu.serialization import registry, register, SerializerNotInstalled, \
                                 raw_encode, register_yaml, register_msgpack, \
-                                decode
+                                decode, bytes_type
 
 from kombu.tests.utils import mask_modules
 
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ class test_Serialization(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIsInstance(registry.decode(unicode_string_as_utf8,
                                               content_type='application/data',
                                               content_encoding='binary'),
-                              str)
+                              bytes_type)
 
         self.assertEquals(unicode_string_as_utf8,
                           registry.decode(
@@ -204,8 +204,9 @@ class test_Serialization(unittest.TestCase):
                           registry.encode, "foo", serializer="nonexisting")
 
     def test_raw_encode(self):
-        self.assertTupleEqual(raw_encode(str("foo")),
-                              ("application/data", "binary", "foo"))
+        self.assertTupleEqual(raw_encode("foo".encode("utf-8")),
+                              ("application/data", "binary",
+                                  "foo".encode("utf-8")))
 
     @mask_modules("yaml")
     def test_register_yaml__no_yaml(self):
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_simple.py b/kombu/tests/test_simple.py
index ed86d350..eaa9a877 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_simple.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_simple.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from Queue import Empty
 
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_transport.py b/kombu/tests/test_transport.py
index 3e1c91e0..af677f46 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_transport.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_transport.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from kombu import transport
 
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_transport_base.py b/kombu/tests/test_transport_base.py
index 4971a2d5..f1828726 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_transport_base.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_transport_base.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from kombu.transport.base import Transport
 
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_transport_memory.py b/kombu/tests/test_transport_memory.py
index 62a8299f..4ba13a49 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_transport_memory.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_transport_memory.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import socket
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from kombu.connection import BrokerConnection
 from kombu.entity import Exchange, Queue
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_transport_pyamqplib.py b/kombu/tests/test_transport_pyamqplib.py
index 5ec38562..91a9f985 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_transport_pyamqplib.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_transport_pyamqplib.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from kombu.transport import pyamqplib
 from kombu.connection import BrokerConnection
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_transport_pyredis.py b/kombu/tests/test_transport_pyredis.py
index 2280d221..02cf3a88 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_transport_pyredis.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_transport_pyredis.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import socket
 import types
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from Queue import Empty, Queue as _Queue
 
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_transport_virtual.py b/kombu/tests/test_transport_virtual.py
index d7ed718b..86662174 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_transport_virtual.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_transport_virtual.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from kombu.connection import BrokerConnection
 from kombu.transport import virtual
@@ -95,7 +95,8 @@ class test_Message(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIsInstance(message, virtual.Message)
         self.assertIs(message, c.message_to_python(message))
 
-        self.assertEqual(message.body, "the quick brown fox...")
+        self.assertEqual(message.body,
+                         "the quick brown fox...".encode("utf-8"))
         self.assertTrue(message.delivery_tag, tag)
 
     def test_serializable(self):
@@ -104,7 +105,8 @@ class test_Message(unittest.TestCase):
         tag = data["properties"]["delivery_tag"] = gen_unique_id()
         message = c.message_to_python(data)
         dict_ = message.serializable()
-        self.assertEqual(dict_["body"], "the quick brown fox...")
+        self.assertEqual(dict_["body"],
+                         "the quick brown fox...".encode("utf-8"))
         self.assertEqual(dict_["properties"]["delivery_tag"], tag)
 
 
@@ -249,7 +251,8 @@ class test_Channel(unittest.TestCase):
 
         r1 = c.message_to_python(c.basic_get(n))
         self.assertTrue(r1)
-        self.assertEqual(r1.body, "nthex quick brown fox...")
+        self.assertEqual(r1.body,
+                         "nthex quick brown fox...".encode("utf-8"))
         self.assertIsNone(c.basic_get(n))
 
         consumer_tag = gen_unique_id()
@@ -259,7 +262,8 @@ class test_Channel(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIn(n + "2", c._active_queues)
         r2, _ = c.drain_events()
         r2 = c.message_to_python(r2)
-        self.assertEqual(r2.body, "nthex quick brown fox...")
+        self.assertEqual(r2.body,
+                         "nthex quick brown fox...".encode("utf-8"))
         self.assertEqual(r2.delivery_info["exchange"], n)
         self.assertEqual(r2.delivery_info["routing_key"], n)
         self.assertRaises(virtual.Empty, c.drain_events)
@@ -268,7 +272,7 @@ class test_Channel(unittest.TestCase):
         c._restore(r2)
         r3 = c.message_to_python(c.basic_get(n))
         self.assertTrue(r3)
-        self.assertEqual(r3.body, "nthex quick brown fox...")
+        self.assertEqual(r3.body, "nthex quick brown fox...".encode("utf-8"))
         self.assertIsNone(c.basic_get(n))
 
     def test_basic_ack(self):
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_utils.py b/kombu/tests/test_utils.py
index d222e18d..26daf6d9 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 import pickle
 import sys
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
-from StringIO import StringIO
+if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):
+    from io import StringIO, BytesIO
+else:
+    from StringIO import StringIO, StringIO as BytesIO
 
 from kombu import utils
 from kombu.utils.functional import wraps
@@ -135,11 +138,17 @@ class MyStringIO(StringIO):
         pass
 
 
+class MyBytesIO(BytesIO):
+
+    def close(self):
+        pass
+
+
 class test_emergency_dump_state(unittest.TestCase):
 
     @redirect_stdouts
     def test_dump(self, stdout, stderr):
-        fh = MyStringIO()
+        fh = MyBytesIO()
 
         utils.emergency_dump_state({"foo": "bar"}, open_file=lambda n, m: fh)
         self.assertDictEqual(pickle.loads(fh.getvalue()), {"foo": "bar"})
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_virtual_exchange.py b/kombu/tests/test_virtual_exchange.py
index 87bfd04f..3eba9dba 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_virtual_exchange.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_virtual_exchange.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from kombu.transport.virtual import exchange
 
diff --git a/kombu/tests/test_virtual_scheduling.py b/kombu/tests/test_virtual_scheduling.py
index bdeee651..d1e36f94 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/test_virtual_scheduling.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/test_virtual_scheduling.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import unittest2 as unittest
+from kombu.tests.utils import unittest
 
 from kombu.transport.virtual.scheduling import FairCycle
 
diff --git a/kombu/tests/utils.py b/kombu/tests/utils.py
index df906987..cb959f05 100644
--- a/kombu/tests/utils.py
+++ b/kombu/tests/utils.py
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ from StringIO import StringIO
 
 from kombu.utils.functional import wraps
 
+try:
+    import unittest
+    unittest.skip
+except AttributeError:
+    import unittest2 as unittest
+
 
 def redirect_stdouts(fun):
 
diff --git a/kombu/transport/base.py b/kombu/transport/base.py
index adcca281..b2b9330a 100644
--- a/kombu/transport/base.py
+++ b/kombu/transport/base.py
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class Message(object):
         compression = self.headers.get("compression")
         if compression:
             self.body = decompress(self.body, compression)
-        if postencode:
+        if postencode and isinstance(self.body, unicode):
             self.body = self.body.encode(postencode)
 
     def ack(self):
diff --git a/kombu/utils/__init__.py b/kombu/utils/__init__.py
index b0a9667a..ce765b9e 100644
--- a/kombu/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/kombu/utils/__init__.py
@@ -34,15 +34,19 @@ def gen_unique_id():
     return str(uuid4())
 
 
-def kwdict(kwargs):
-    """Make sure keyword arguments are not in unicode.
+if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):
+    def kwdict(kwargs):
+        return kwargs
+else:
+    def kwdict(kwargs):
+        """Make sure keyword arguments are not in unicode.
 
-    This should be fixed in newer Python versions,
-      see: http://bugs.python.org/issue4978.
+        This should be fixed in newer Python versions,
+        see: http://bugs.python.org/issue4978.
 
-    """
-    return dict((key.encode("utf-8"), value)
-                    for key, value in kwargs.items())
+        """
+        return dict((key.encode("utf-8"), value)
+                        for key, value in kwargs.items())
 
 
 def maybe_list(v):
diff --git a/kombu/utils/compat.py b/kombu/utils/compat.py
index 703ad959..f86336d4 100644
--- a/kombu/utils/compat.py
+++ b/kombu/utils/compat.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class _Link(object):
     __slots__ = 'prev', 'next', 'key', '__weakref__'
 
 
-class OrderedDict(dict, MutableMapping):
+class CompatOrderedDict(dict, MutableMapping):
     """Dictionary that remembers insertion order"""
     # An inherited dict maps keys to values.
     # The inherited dict provides __getitem__, __len__, __contains__, and get.
@@ -232,3 +232,8 @@ class OrderedDict(dict, MutableMapping):
 
     def __ne__(self, other):
         return not (self == other)
+
+try:
+    from collections import OrderedDict
+except ImportError:
+    OrderedDict = CompatOrderedDict
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 93baa7cf..36db82a4 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -5,8 +5,13 @@ import sys
 import codecs
 
 extra = {}
+tests_require = {"nose", "nose-cover3"}
 if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):
     extra.update(use_2to3=True)
+elif sys.version_info <= (2, 6):
+    tests_require.append("unittest2")
+elif sys.version_info <= (2, 5):
+    tests_require.append("simplejson")
 
 
 if sys.version_info < (2, 4):
@@ -87,7 +92,7 @@ setup(
         'anyjson',
         'amqplib>=0.6',
     ],
-    tests_require=["nose", "nose-cover3", "unittest2", "simplejson"],
+    tests_require=tests_require,
     classifiers=[
         "Development Status :: 4 - Beta",
         "Framework :: Django",