diff --git a/examples/misc/multipage_pdf.py b/examples/misc/multipage_pdf.py
index 9b49f1d8644f..9986237c7f29 100644
--- a/examples/misc/multipage_pdf.py
+++ b/examples/misc/multipage_pdf.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
     # We can also set the file's metadata via the PdfPages object:
     d = pdf.infodict()
     d['Title'] = 'Multipage PDF Example'
-    d['Author'] = u'Jouni K. Sepp\xe4nen'
+    d['Author'] = 'Jouni K. Sepp\xe4nen'
     d['Subject'] = 'How to create a multipage pdf file and set its metadata'
     d['Keywords'] = 'PdfPages multipage keywords author title subject'
     d['CreationDate'] = datetime.datetime(2009, 11, 13)
diff --git a/examples/pyplots/text_commands.py b/examples/pyplots/text_commands.py
index a074f4ca395d..4885a0051925 100644
--- a/examples/pyplots/text_commands.py
+++ b/examples/pyplots/text_commands.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 Plotting text of many different kinds.
 """
+
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 
 fig = plt.figure()
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@
 
 ax.text(2, 6, r'an equation: $E=mc^2$', fontsize=15)
 
-ax.text(3, 2, u'unicode: Institut f\374r Festk\366rperphysik')
+ax.text(3, 2, 'unicode: Institut f\374r Festk\366rperphysik')
 
 ax.text(0.95, 0.01, 'colored text in axes coords',
         verticalalignment='bottom', horizontalalignment='right',
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/sphinxext/tests/tinypages/conf.py b/lib/matplotlib/sphinxext/tests/tinypages/conf.py
index d2d26c18eceb..970a3c5a4d45 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/sphinxext/tests/tinypages/conf.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/sphinxext/tests/tinypages/conf.py
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-#
 # tinypages documentation build configuration file, created by
 # sphinx-quickstart on Tue Mar 18 11:58:34 2014.
 #
@@ -46,8 +44,8 @@
 master_doc = 'index'
 
 # General information about the project.
-project = u'tinypages'
-copyright = u'2014, Matplotlib developers'
+project = 'tinypages'
+copyright = '2014, Matplotlib developers'
 
 # The version info for the project you're documenting, acts as replacement for
 # |version| and |release|, also used in various other places throughout the
@@ -202,8 +200,8 @@
 # (source start file, target name, title,
 #  author, documentclass [howto, manual, or own class]).
 latex_documents = [
-  ('index', 'tinypages.tex', u'tinypages Documentation',
-   u'Matplotlib developers', 'manual'),
+  ('index', 'tinypages.tex', 'tinypages Documentation',
+   'Matplotlib developers', 'manual'),
 ]
 
 # The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top of
@@ -232,8 +230,8 @@
 # One entry per manual page. List of tuples
 # (source start file, name, description, authors, manual section).
 man_pages = [
-    ('index', 'tinypages', u'tinypages Documentation',
-     [u'Matplotlib developers'], 1)
+    ('index', 'tinypages', 'tinypages Documentation',
+     ['Matplotlib developers'], 1)
 ]
 
 # If true, show URL addresses after external links.
@@ -246,8 +244,8 @@
 # (source start file, target name, title, author,
 #  dir menu entry, description, category)
 texinfo_documents = [
-  ('index', 'tinypages', u'tinypages Documentation',
-   u'Matplotlib developers', 'tinypages', 'One line description of project.',
+  ('index', 'tinypages', 'tinypages Documentation',
+   'Matplotlib developers', 'tinypages', 'One line description of project.',
    'Miscellaneous'),
 ]
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/testing/determinism.py b/lib/matplotlib/testing/determinism.py
index 614544ce28ec..f43706ea5beb 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/testing/determinism.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/testing/determinism.py
@@ -2,16 +2,11 @@
 Provides utilities to test output reproducibility.
 """
 
-from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function,
-                        unicode_literals)
-
-import six
-
 import io
 import os
 import re
+import subprocess
 import sys
-from subprocess import check_output
 
 import pytest
 
@@ -34,11 +29,11 @@ def _determinism_save(objects='mhi', format="pdf", usetex=False):
         # use different markers...
         ax1 = fig.add_subplot(1, 6, 1)
         x = range(10)
-        ax1.plot(x, [1] * 10, marker=u'D')
-        ax1.plot(x, [2] * 10, marker=u'x')
-        ax1.plot(x, [3] * 10, marker=u'^')
-        ax1.plot(x, [4] * 10, marker=u'H')
-        ax1.plot(x, [5] * 10, marker=u'v')
+        ax1.plot(x, [1] * 10, marker='D')
+        ax1.plot(x, [2] * 10, marker='x')
+        ax1.plot(x, [3] * 10, marker='^')
+        ax1.plot(x, [4] * 10, marker='H')
+        ax1.plot(x, [5] * 10, marker='v')
 
     if 'h' in objects:
         # also use different hatch patterns
@@ -63,13 +58,8 @@ def _determinism_save(objects='mhi', format="pdf", usetex=False):
     x = range(5)
     fig.add_subplot(1, 6, 6).plot(x, x)
 
-    if six.PY2 and format == 'ps':
-        stdout = io.StringIO()
-    else:
-        stdout = getattr(sys.stdout, 'buffer', sys.stdout)
+    stdout = getattr(sys.stdout, 'buffer', sys.stdout)
     fig.savefig(stdout, format=format)
-    if six.PY2 and format == 'ps':
-        sys.stdout.write(stdout.getvalue())
 
     # Restores SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
     if sde is None:
@@ -94,14 +84,14 @@ def _determinism_check(objects='mhi', format="pdf", usetex=False):
     """
     plots = []
     for i in range(3):
-        result = check_output([sys.executable, '-R', '-c',
-                               'import matplotlib; '
-                               'matplotlib._called_from_pytest = True; '
-                               'matplotlib.use(%r); '
-                               'from matplotlib.testing.determinism '
-                               'import _determinism_save;'
-                               '_determinism_save(%r,%r,%r)'
-                               % (format, objects, format, usetex)])
+        result = subprocess.check_output([
+            sys.executable, '-R', '-c',
+            'import matplotlib; '
+            'matplotlib._called_from_pytest = True; '
+            'matplotlib.use(%r); '
+            'from matplotlib.testing.determinism import _determinism_save;'
+            '_determinism_save(%r, %r, %r)'
+            % (format, objects, format, usetex)])
         plots.append(result)
     for p in plots[1:]:
         if usetex:
@@ -128,14 +118,14 @@ def _determinism_source_date_epoch(format, string, keyword=b"CreationDate"):
         a string to look at when searching for the timestamp in the document
         (used in case the test fails).
     """
-    buff = check_output([sys.executable, '-R', '-c',
-                         'import matplotlib; '
-                         'matplotlib._called_from_pytest = True; '
-                         'matplotlib.use(%r); '
-                         'from matplotlib.testing.determinism '
-                         'import _determinism_save;'
-                         '_determinism_save(%r,%r)'
-                         % (format, "", format)])
+    buff = subprocess.check_output([
+        sys.executable, '-R', '-c',
+        'import matplotlib; '
+        'matplotlib._called_from_pytest = True; '
+        'matplotlib.use(%r); '
+        'from matplotlib.testing.determinism import _determinism_save;'
+        '_determinism_save(%r, %r)'
+        % (format, "", format)])
     find_keyword = re.compile(b".*" + keyword + b".*")
     key = find_keyword.search(buff)
     if key:
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_afm.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_afm.py
index d4cfce2c61e6..eef807b1d3df 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_afm.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_afm.py
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-
-from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
-from six import BytesIO
+from io import BytesIO
 
 import matplotlib.afm as afm
 
@@ -33,7 +30,7 @@
 def test_nonascii_str():
     # This tests that we also decode bytes as utf-8 properly.
     # Else, font files with non ascii characters fail to load.
-    inp_str = u"привет"
+    inp_str = "привет"
     byte_str = inp_str.encode("utf8")
 
     ret = afm._to_str(byte_str)
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_animation.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_animation.py
index 31543da9d32f..ed3f5919f02c 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_animation.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_animation.py
@@ -1,7 +1,3 @@
-from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
-
-import six
-
 import sys
 import tempfile
 
@@ -205,14 +201,14 @@ def test_movie_writer_registry():
     assert len(animation.writers._registered) > 0
     animation.writers.list()  # resets dirty state
     assert not animation.writers._dirty
-    mpl.rcParams['animation.ffmpeg_path'] = u"not_available_ever_xxxx"
+    mpl.rcParams['animation.ffmpeg_path'] = "not_available_ever_xxxx"
     assert animation.writers._dirty
     animation.writers.list()  # resets
     assert not animation.writers._dirty
     assert not animation.writers.is_available("ffmpeg")
     # something which is guaranteed to be available in path
     # and exits immediately
-    bin = u"true" if sys.platform != 'win32' else u"where"
+    bin = "true" if sys.platform != 'win32' else "where"
     mpl.rcParams['animation.ffmpeg_path'] = bin
     assert animation.writers._dirty
     animation.writers.list()  # resets
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_pgf.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_pgf.py
index b42d99e23a61..1a3d943cf3da 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_pgf.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_pgf.py
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-# -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
-
 import os
 import shutil
 import subprocess
@@ -73,7 +70,7 @@ def create_figure():
 
     # text and typesetting
     plt.plot([0.9], [0.5], "ro", markersize=3)
-    plt.text(0.9, 0.5, u'unicode (ü, °, µ) and math ($\\mu_i = x_i^2$)',
+    plt.text(0.9, 0.5, 'unicode (ü, °, µ) and math ($\\mu_i = x_i^2$)',
              ha='right', fontsize=20)
     plt.ylabel('sans-serif, blue, $\\frac{\\sqrt{x}}{y^2}$..',
                family='sans-serif', color='blue')
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_ps.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_ps.py
index 8bf6e7dde38e..8768b2669ceb 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_ps.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_ps.py
@@ -1,13 +1,8 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-
-from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
-
 import io
 import re
 
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
-import six
 
 import matplotlib
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
@@ -31,13 +26,14 @@
 @pytest.mark.flaky(reruns=3)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('format, use_log, rcParams', [
     ('ps', False, {}),
-    needs_ghostscript(('ps', False, {'ps.usedistiller': 'ghostscript'})),
-    needs_usetex(needs_ghostscript(('ps', False, {'text.latex.unicode': True,
-                                                  'text.usetex': True}))),
+    needs_ghostscript(
+        ('ps', False, {'ps.usedistiller': 'ghostscript'})),
+    needs_usetex(needs_ghostscript(
+        ('ps', False, {'text.latex.unicode': True, 'text.usetex': True}))),
     ('eps', False, {}),
     ('eps', True, {'ps.useafm': True}),
-    needs_usetex(needs_ghostscript(('eps', False, {'text.latex.unicode': True,
-                                                   'text.usetex': True}))),
+    needs_usetex(needs_ghostscript(
+        ('eps', False, {'text.latex.unicode': True, 'text.usetex': True}))),
 ], ids=[
     'ps',
     'ps with distiller',
@@ -50,35 +46,25 @@ def test_savefig_to_stringio(format, use_log, rcParams):
     matplotlib.rcParams.update(rcParams)
 
     fig, ax = plt.subplots()
-    buffers = [
-        six.moves.StringIO(),
-        io.StringIO(),
-        io.BytesIO()]
-
-    if use_log:
-        ax.set_yscale('log')
-
-    ax.plot([1, 2], [1, 2])
-    ax.set_title(u"Déjà vu")
-    for buffer in buffers:
-        fig.savefig(buffer, format=format)
-
-    values = [x.getvalue() for x in buffers]
-
-    if six.PY3:
-        values = [
-            values[0].encode('ascii'),
-            values[1].encode('ascii'),
-            values[2]]
-
-    # Remove comments from the output.  This includes things that
-    # could change from run to run, such as the time.
-    values = [re.sub(b'%%.*?\n', b'', x) for x in values]
-
-    assert values[0] == values[1]
-    assert values[1] == values[2].replace(b'\r\n', b'\n')
-    for buffer in buffers:
-        buffer.close()
+
+    with io.StringIO() as s_buf, io.BytesIO() as b_buf:
+
+        if use_log:
+            ax.set_yscale('log')
+
+        ax.plot([1, 2], [1, 2])
+        ax.set_title("Déjà vu")
+        fig.savefig(s_buf, format=format)
+        fig.savefig(b_buf, format=format)
+
+        s_val = s_buf.getvalue().encode('ascii')
+        b_val = b_buf.getvalue()
+
+        # Remove comments from the output.  This includes things that could
+        # change from run to run, such as the time.
+        s_val, b_val = [re.sub(b'%%.*?\n', b'', x) for x in [s_val, b_val]]
+
+        assert s_val == b_val.replace(b'\r\n', b'\n')
 
 
 def test_patheffects():
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_legend.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_legend.py
index db6d596f57e7..9484d10a663e 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_legend.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_legend.py
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ def test_various_labels():
     fig = plt.figure()
     ax = fig.add_subplot(121)
     ax.plot(np.arange(4), 'o', label=1)
-    ax.plot(np.linspace(4, 4.1), 'o', label=u'D\xe9velopp\xe9s')
+    ax.plot(np.linspace(4, 4.1), 'o', label='Développés')
     ax.plot(np.arange(4, 1, -1), 'o', label='__nolegend__')
     ax.legend(numpoints=1, loc=0)
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_ticker.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_ticker.py
index 32206a0c6168..1738adb93034 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_ticker.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_ticker.py
@@ -1,15 +1,13 @@
-from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
+import warnings
 
-from numpy.testing import assert_almost_equal
 import numpy as np
+from numpy.testing import assert_almost_equal
 import pytest
 
 import matplotlib
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 import matplotlib.ticker as mticker
 
-import warnings
-
 
 class TestMaxNLocator(object):
     basic_data = [
@@ -578,7 +576,7 @@ class TestEngFormatter(object):
         (-0.0, ('0', '0', '0.00')),
         (-0, ('0', '0', '0.00')),
         (0, ('0', '0', '0.00')),
-        (1.23456789e-6, (u'1.23457 \u03bc', u'1 \u03bc', u'1.23 \u03bc')),
+        (1.23456789e-6, ('1.23457 \u03bc', '1 \u03bc', '1.23 \u03bc')),
         (0.123456789, ('123.457 m', '123 m', '123.46 m')),
         (0.1, ('100 m', '100 m', '100.00 m')),
         (1, ('1', '1', '1.00')),
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/widgets.py b/lib/matplotlib/widgets.py
index ca6f544ada4d..4a5b01406da6 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/widgets.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/widgets.py
@@ -9,12 +9,7 @@
 wide and tall you want your Axes to be to accommodate your widget.
 """
 
-from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function,
-                        unicode_literals)
-
 import copy
-import six
-from six.moves import zip
 
 import numpy as np
 from matplotlib import rcParams
@@ -221,7 +216,7 @@ def _release(self, event):
             return
         if event.inaxes != self.ax:
             return
-        for cid, func in six.iteritems(self.observers):
+        for cid, func in self.observers.items():
             func(event)
 
     def _motion(self, event):
@@ -438,7 +433,7 @@ def set_val(self, val):
         self.val = val
         if not self.eventson:
             return
-        for cid, func in six.iteritems(self.observers):
+        for cid, func in self.observers.items():
             func(val)
 
     def on_changed(self, func):
@@ -602,7 +597,7 @@ def set_active(self, index):
 
         if not self.eventson:
             return
-        for cid, func in six.iteritems(self.observers):
+        for cid, func in self.observers.items():
             func(self.labels[index].get_text())
 
     def get_status(self):
@@ -684,7 +679,7 @@ def __init__(self, ax, label, initial='',
 
         self.DIST_FROM_LEFT = .05
 
-        self.params_to_disable = [key for key in rcParams if u'keymap' in key]
+        self.params_to_disable = [key for key in rcParams if 'keymap' in key]
 
         self.text = initial
         self.label = ax.text(-label_pad, 0.5, label,
@@ -759,7 +754,7 @@ def _rendercursor(self):
         self.ax.figure.canvas.draw()
 
     def _notify_submit_observers(self):
-        for cid, func in six.iteritems(self.submit_observers):
+        for cid, func in self.submit_observers.items():
                 func(self.text)
 
     def _release(self, event):
@@ -818,7 +813,7 @@ def set_val(self, val):
         self._notify_submit_observers()
 
     def _notify_change_observers(self):
-        for cid, func in six.iteritems(self.change_observers):
+        for cid, func in self.change_observers.items():
             func(self.text)
 
     def begin_typing(self, x):
@@ -1051,7 +1046,7 @@ def set_active(self, index):
 
         if not self.eventson:
             return
-        for cid, func in six.iteritems(self.observers):
+        for cid, func in self.observers.items():
             func(self.labels[index].get_text())
 
     def on_clicked(self, func):
diff --git a/tutorials/text/text_intro.py b/tutorials/text/text_intro.py
index 54896236779d..ccf3911e65d0 100644
--- a/tutorials/text/text_intro.py
+++ b/tutorials/text/text_intro.py
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
 
 ax.text(2, 6, r'an equation: $E=mc^2$', fontsize=15)
 
-ax.text(3, 2, u'unicode: Institut für Festkörperphysik')
+ax.text(3, 2, 'unicode: Institut für Festkörperphysik')
 
 ax.text(0.95, 0.01, 'colored text in axes coords',
         verticalalignment='bottom', horizontalalignment='right',