diff --git a/ceilometer/publisher/utils.py b/ceilometer/publisher/utils.py
index 51d755b4e..6f89eae8f 100644
--- a/ceilometer/publisher/utils.py
+++ b/ceilometer/publisher/utils.py
@@ -45,7 +45,9 @@ def compute_signature(message, secret):
     if not secret:
         return ''
 
-    digest_maker = hmac.new(secret, '', hashlib.sha256)
+    if isinstance(secret, six.text_type):
+        secret = secret.encode('utf-8')
+    digest_maker = hmac.new(secret, b'', hashlib.sha256)
     for name, value in utils.recursive_keypairs(message):
         if name == 'message_signature':
             # Skip any existing signature value, which would not have
diff --git a/ceilometer/storage/impl_sqlalchemy.py b/ceilometer/storage/impl_sqlalchemy.py
index 77078691d..845d1e915 100644
--- a/ceilometer/storage/impl_sqlalchemy.py
+++ b/ceilometer/storage/impl_sqlalchemy.py
@@ -270,8 +270,10 @@ class Connection(base.Connection):
         # TODO(gordc): implement lru_cache to improve performance
         try:
             res = models.Resource.__table__
-            m_hash = hashlib.md5(jsonutils.dumps(rmeta,
-                                                 sort_keys=True)).hexdigest()
+            m_hash = jsonutils.dumps(rmeta, sort_keys=True)
+            if six.PY3:
+                m_hash = m_hash.encode('utf-8')
+            m_hash = hashlib.md5(m_hash).hexdigest()
             trans = conn.begin_nested()
             if conn.dialect.name == 'sqlite':
                 trans = conn.begin()
diff --git a/ceilometer/tests/test_notification.py b/ceilometer/tests/test_notification.py
index 950870401..057ed6b00 100644
--- a/ceilometer/tests/test_notification.py
+++ b/ceilometer/tests/test_notification.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from oslo_context import context
 import oslo_messaging
 import oslo_messaging.conffixture
 from oslo_utils import timeutils
+import six
 from stevedore import extension
 import yaml
 
@@ -182,6 +183,8 @@ class BaseRealNotification(tests_base.BaseTestCase):
             'transformers': [],
             'publishers': ['test://'],
         }])
+        if six.PY3:
+            pipeline = pipeline.encode('utf-8')
         self.expected_samples = 2
         pipeline_cfg_file = fileutils.write_to_tempfile(content=pipeline,
                                                         prefix="pipeline",
@@ -202,6 +205,8 @@ class BaseRealNotification(tests_base.BaseTestCase):
                 'publishers': ['test://']
             }]
         })
+        if six.PY3:
+            ev_pipeline = ev_pipeline.encode('utf-8')
         self.expected_events = 1
         ev_pipeline_cfg_file = fileutils.write_to_tempfile(
             content=ev_pipeline, prefix="event_pipeline", suffix="yaml")