diff --git a/scripts/supybot-botchk b/scripts/supybot-botchk
index de6e4e802..8d59e8068 100644
--- a/scripts/supybot-botchk
+++ b/scripts/supybot-botchk
@@ -97,8 +97,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
         parser.error('No conffile given.')
 
     os.chdir(options.botdir)
-    pidfile = open(options.pidfile, 'ab')
-    pidfile.close()
+    open(options.pidfile, 'a').close() 
 
     pid = None
     try:
diff --git a/src/irclib.py b/src/irclib.py
index 5b7d93095..1d31faa20 100644
--- a/src/irclib.py
+++ b/src/irclib.py
@@ -887,8 +887,16 @@ class Irc(IrcCommandDispatcher):
         self.ident = conf.supybot.ident()
         self.alternateNicks = conf.supybot.nick.alternates()[:]
         self.password = conf.supybot.networks.get(self.network).password()
-        self.sasl_username = conf.supybot.networks.get(self.network).sasl.username()
-        self.sasl_password = conf.supybot.networks.get(self.network).sasl.password()
+        self.sasl_username = \
+                conf.supybot.networks.get(self.network).sasl.username()
+        # TODO Find a better way to fix this
+        if hasattr(self.sasl_username, 'decode'):
+            self.sasl_username = self.sasl_username.decode('utf-8')
+        self.sasl_password = \
+                conf.supybot.networks.get(self.network).sasl.password()
+        # TODO Find a better way to fix this
+        if hasattr(self.sasl_password, 'decode'):
+            self.sasl_password = self.sasl_password.decode('utf-8')
         self.prefix = '%s!%s@%s' % (self.nick, self.ident, 'unset.domain')
         # The rest.
         self.lastTake = 0
@@ -897,6 +905,7 @@ class Irc(IrcCommandDispatcher):
         self.lastping = time.time()
         self.outstandingPing = False
 
+
     def _queueConnectMessages(self):
         if self.zombie:
             self.driver.die()
@@ -906,8 +915,11 @@ class Irc(IrcCommandDispatcher):
                 if not self.sasl_username:
                     log.error('SASL username is not set, unable to identify.')
                 else:
-                    auth_string = base64.b64encode('%s\x00%s\x00%s' % (self.sasl_username,
-                        self.sasl_username, self.sasl_password))
+                    auth_string = base64.b64encode('\x00'.join([
+                        self.sasl_username,
+                        self.sasl_username,
+                        self.sasl_password
+                    ]).encode('utf-8')).decode('utf-8')
                     log.debug('Sending CAP REQ command, requesting capability \'sasl\'.')
                     self.queueMsg(ircmsgs.IrcMsg(command="CAP", args=('REQ', 'sasl')))
                     log.debug('Sending AUTHENTICATE command, using mechanism PLAIN.')
diff --git a/src/ircutils.py b/src/ircutils.py
index fa340458e..abb6f69f0 100644
--- a/src/ircutils.py
+++ b/src/ircutils.py
@@ -461,6 +461,7 @@ def wrap(s, length, break_on_hyphens = False, break_long_words = False):
 
 def isValidArgument(s):
     """Returns whether s is strictly a valid argument for an IRC message."""
+
     return '\r' not in s and '\n' not in s and '\x00' not in s
 
 def safeArgument(s):