diff --git a/ceilometer/compute/notifications/cpu.py b/ceilometer/compute/notifications/cpu.py
index bf718b9b8..7af186da3 100644
--- a/ceilometer/compute/notifications/cpu.py
+++ b/ceilometer/compute/notifications/cpu.py
@@ -39,15 +39,14 @@ class ComputeMetricsNotificationBase(notifications.ComputeNotificationBase):
         try:
             for metric in message['payload']['metrics']:
                 if name == metric['name']:
-                    info = {}
-                    info['payload'] = metric
-                    info['event_type'] = message['event_type']
-                    info['publisher_id'] = message['publisher_id']
-                    info['resource_id'] = '%s_%s' % (
-                        message['payload']['host'],
-                        message['payload']['nodename'])
-                    info['timestamp'] = str(timeutils.parse_strtime(
-                        metric['timestamp']))
+                    info = {'payload': metric,
+                            'event_type': message['event_type'],
+                            'publisher_id': message['publisher_id'],
+                            'resource_id': '%s_%s' % (
+                                message['payload']['host'],
+                                message['payload']['nodename']),
+                            'timestamp': str(timeutils.parse_strtime(
+                                metric['timestamp']))}
                     return info
         except Exception as err:
             LOG.warning(_('An error occurred while building %(m)s '
diff --git a/ceilometer/hardware/notifications/ipmi.py b/ceilometer/hardware/notifications/ipmi.py
index 87adaa81f..deb69ce9d 100644
--- a/ceilometer/hardware/notifications/ipmi.py
+++ b/ceilometer/hardware/notifications/ipmi.py
@@ -96,14 +96,13 @@ class SensorNotification(plugin.NotificationBase):
                                     data)
 
     def _package_payload(self, message, payload):
-        info = {}
-        info['publisher_id'] = message['publisher_id']
-        info['timestamp'] = message['payload']['timestamp']
-        info['event_type'] = message['payload']['event_type']
-        info['user_id'] = message['payload'].get('user_id')
-        info['project_id'] = message['payload'].get('project_id')
         # NOTE(chdent): How much of the payload should we keep?
-        info['payload'] = payload
+        info = {'publisher_id': message['publisher_id'],
+                'timestamp': message['payload']['timestamp'],
+                'event_type': message['payload']['event_type'],
+                'user_id': message['payload'].get('user_id'),
+                'project_id': message['payload'].get('project_id'),
+                'payload': payload}
         return info
 
     def process_notification(self, message):
diff --git a/ceilometer/tests/dispatcher/test_db.py b/ceilometer/tests/dispatcher/test_db.py
index 9fab137c5..de9b0400a 100644
--- a/ceilometer/tests/dispatcher/test_db.py
+++ b/ceilometer/tests/dispatcher/test_db.py
@@ -53,8 +53,7 @@ class TestDispatcherDB(test.BaseTestCase):
         msg = {'counter_name': 'test',
                'resource_id': self.id(),
                'counter_volume': 1,
-               }
-        msg['message_signature'] = 'invalid-signature'
+               'message_signature': 'invalid-signature'}
 
         class ErrorConnection:
 
diff --git a/ceilometer/tests/network/statistics/opendaylight/test_client.py b/ceilometer/tests/network/statistics/opendaylight/test_client.py
index aedfc1de7..ebb1ed7bb 100644
--- a/ceilometer/tests/network/statistics/opendaylight/test_client.py
+++ b/ceilometer/tests/network/statistics/opendaylight/test_client.py
@@ -39,10 +39,9 @@ class TestClientHTTPBasicAuth(test.BaseTestCase):
                                  self.parsed_url.netloc,
                                  self.parsed_url.path,
                                  None, None, None))
-        odl_params = {}
-        odl_params['auth'] = self.params.get('auth')[0]
-        odl_params['user'] = self.params.get('user')[0]
-        odl_params['password'] = self.params.get('password')[0]
+        odl_params = {'auth': self.params.get('auth')[0],
+                      'user': self.params.get('user')[0],
+                      'password': self.params.get('password')[0]}
         self.client = client.Client(self.endpoint, odl_params)
 
         self.resp = mock.MagicMock()
diff --git a/ceilometer/tests/network/test_floatingip.py b/ceilometer/tests/network/test_floatingip.py
index 9e0987126..8985c0308 100644
--- a/ceilometer/tests/network/test_floatingip.py
+++ b/ceilometer/tests/network/test_floatingip.py
@@ -88,7 +88,6 @@ class TestFloatingIPPollster(test.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(set(['ip.floating']), set([s.name for s in samples]))
 
     def test_get_samples_cached(self):
-        cache = {}
-        cache['floating_ips'] = self.fake_get_ips()[:2]
+        cache = {'floating_ips': self.fake_get_ips()[:2]}
         samples = list(self.pollster.get_samples(self.manager, cache))
         self.assertEqual(2, len(samples))