diff --git a/src/_macosx.m b/src/_macosx.m
index 7fd5f9afa4aa..568c9650e932 100644
--- a/src/_macosx.m
+++ b/src/_macosx.m
@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@
 #define PY3K 0
 #endif
 
+#if (PY_MAJOR_VERSION == 3 && PY_MINOR_VERSION >=3)
+#define PY33 1
+#else
+#define PY33 0
+#endif
+
 /* Must define Py_TYPE for Python 2.5 or older */
 #ifndef Py_TYPE
 # define Py_TYPE(o) ((o)->ob_type)
@@ -2536,7 +2542,6 @@ static CGRect _find_enclosing_rect(CGPoint points[3])
 {
     float x;
     float y;
-    const UniChar* text;
     int n;
     PyObject* family;
     float size;
@@ -2546,6 +2551,11 @@ static CGRect _find_enclosing_rect(CGPoint points[3])
     CTFontRef font;
     CGColorRef color;
     CGFloat descent;
+#if PY33
+    const char* text;
+#else
+    const UniChar* text;
+#endif
 
     CFStringRef keys[2];
     CFTypeRef values[2];
@@ -2556,7 +2566,19 @@ static CGRect _find_enclosing_rect(CGPoint points[3])
         PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "CGContextRef is NULL");
         return NULL;
     }
-
+#if PY33
+    if(!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "ffs#Ofssf",
+                                &x,
+                                &y,
+                                &text,
+                                &n,
+                                &family,
+                                &size,
+                                &weight,
+                                &italic,
+                                &angle)) return NULL;
+    CFStringRef s = CFStringCreateWithCString(kCFAllocatorDefault, text, kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
+#else
     if(!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "ffu#Ofssf",
                                 &x,
                                 &y,
@@ -2567,6 +2589,8 @@ static CGRect _find_enclosing_rect(CGPoint points[3])
                                 &weight,
                                 &italic,
                                 &angle)) return NULL;
+    CFStringRef s = CFStringCreateWithCharacters(kCFAllocatorDefault, text, n);
+#endif
 
     font = setfont(cr, family, size, weight, italic);
 
@@ -2588,8 +2612,6 @@ static CGRect _find_enclosing_rect(CGPoint points[3])
     CGColorRelease(color);
     CFRelease(font);
 
-    CFStringRef s = CFStringCreateWithCharacters(kCFAllocatorDefault, text, n);
-
     CFAttributedStringRef string = CFAttributedStringCreate(kCFAllocatorDefault,
                                                             s,
                                                             attributes);
@@ -2631,13 +2653,18 @@ static CGRect _find_enclosing_rect(CGPoint points[3])
 static PyObject*
 GraphicsContext_get_text_width_height_descent(GraphicsContext* self, PyObject* args)
 {
-    const UniChar* text;
     int n;
     PyObject* family;
     float size;
     const char* weight;
     const char* italic;
 
+#if PY33
+    const char* text;
+#else
+    const UniChar* text;
+#endif
+
     CGFloat ascent;
     CGFloat descent;
     double width;
@@ -2652,9 +2679,25 @@ static CGRect _find_enclosing_rect(CGPoint points[3])
         return NULL;
     }
 
+#if PY33
+    if(!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s#Ofss",
+                                &text,
+                                &n,
+                                &family,
+                                &size,
+                                &weight,
+                                &italic)) return NULL;
+    CFStringRef s = CFStringCreateWithCString(kCFAllocatorDefault, text, kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
+#else
     if(!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "u#Ofss",
-                         &text, &n, &family, &size, &weight, &italic))
-        return NULL;
+                                &text,
+                                &n,
+                                &family,
+                                &size,
+                                &weight,
+                                &italic)) return NULL;
+    CFStringRef s = CFStringCreateWithCharacters(kCFAllocatorDefault, text, n);
+#endif
 
     font = setfont(cr, family, size, weight, italic);
 
@@ -2671,8 +2714,6 @@ static CGRect _find_enclosing_rect(CGPoint points[3])
                                         &kCFTypeDictionaryValueCallBacks);
     CFRelease(font);
 
-    CFStringRef s = CFStringCreateWithCharacters(kCFAllocatorDefault, text, n);
-
     CFAttributedStringRef string = CFAttributedStringCreate(kCFAllocatorDefault,
                                                             s,
                                                             attributes);
@@ -2697,7 +2738,7 @@ static CGRect _find_enclosing_rect(CGPoint points[3])
     return Py_BuildValue("fff", width, rect.size.height, descent);
 }
 
-#else
+#else // Text drawing for OSX versions <10.5
 
 static PyObject*
 GraphicsContext_draw_text (GraphicsContext* self, PyObject* args)
@@ -4900,7 +4941,11 @@ -(void)save_figure:(id)sender
         unsigned int n = [filename length];
         unichar* buffer = malloc(n*sizeof(unichar));
         [filename getCharacters: buffer];
+#if PY33
+        PyObject* string =  PyUnicode_FromKindAndData(PyUnicode_2BYTE_KIND, buffer, n);
+#else
         PyObject* string =  PyUnicode_FromUnicode(buffer, n);
+#endif
         free(buffer);
         return string;
     }