diff --git a/tests/fixtures/__init__.py b/tests/fixtures/__init__.py
index 6e1724e1..2ffdf89f 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures/__init__.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import os
+import codecs
 
 from tests import TESTS_ROOT
-from httpie.compat import bytes
 
 
 def patharg(path):
@@ -18,15 +18,17 @@ FILE_PATH_ARG = patharg(FILE_PATH)
 BIN_FILE_PATH_ARG = patharg(BIN_FILE_PATH)
 JSON_FILE_PATH_ARG = patharg(JSON_FILE_PATH)
 
-with open(FILE_PATH) as f:
+
+with codecs.open(FILE_PATH, encoding='utf8') as f:
     # Strip because we don't want new lines in the data so that we can
     # easily count occurrences also when embedded in JSON (where the new
     # line would be escaped).
     FILE_CONTENT = f.read().strip()
-    if isinstance(FILE_CONTENT, bytes):
-        # Python < 3.0
-        FILE_CONTENT = FILE_CONTENT.decode('utf8')
+
+
+with codecs.open(JSON_FILE_PATH, encoding='utf8') as f:
+    JSON_FILE_CONTENT = f.read()
+
+
 with open(BIN_FILE_PATH, 'rb') as f:
     BIN_FILE_CONTENT = f.read()
-with open(JSON_FILE_PATH, 'rb') as f:
-    JSON_FILE_CONTENT = f.read()
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 75854c37..cd4ea019 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -73,8 +73,7 @@ class TestItemParsing:
 
         # Parsed data
         raw_json_embed = data.pop('raw-json-embed')
-        assert raw_json_embed == json.loads(
-            JSON_FILE_CONTENT.decode('utf8'))
+        assert raw_json_embed == json.loads(JSON_FILE_CONTENT)
         data['string-embed'] = data['string-embed'].strip()
         assert dict(data) == {
             "ed": "",