diff --git a/IPython/lib/irunner.py b/IPython/lib/irunner.py
index c7954dd..2c7e7bd 100755
--- a/IPython/lib/irunner.py
+++ b/IPython/lib/irunner.py
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import sys
 # Third-party modules: we carry a copy of pexpect to reduce the need for
 # external dependencies, but our import checks for a system version first.
 from IPython.external import pexpect
+from IPython.utils import py3compat
 
 # Global usage strings, to avoid indentation issues when typing it below.
 USAGE = """
@@ -287,6 +288,7 @@ class InteractiveRunner(object):
 
         self.run_file(args[0],opts.interact)
 
+_ipython_cmd = "ipython3" if py3compat.PY3 else "ipython"
 
 # Specific runners for particular programs
 class IPythonRunner(InteractiveRunner):
@@ -302,7 +304,7 @@ class IPythonRunner(InteractiveRunner):
     prompts would break this.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self,program = 'ipython',args=None,out=sys.stdout,echo=True):
+    def __init__(self,program = _ipython_cmd, args=None, out=sys.stdout, echo=True):
         """New runner, optionally passing the ipython command to use."""
         args0 = ['--colors=NoColor',
                  '--no-term-title',
@@ -318,7 +320,7 @@ class IPythonRunner(InteractiveRunner):
 class PythonRunner(InteractiveRunner):
     """Interactive Python runner."""
 
-    def __init__(self,program='python',args=None,out=sys.stdout,echo=True):
+    def __init__(self,program=sys.executable, args=None, out=sys.stdout, echo=True):
         """New runner, optionally passing the python command to use."""
 
         prompts = [r'>>> ',r'\.\.\. ']
diff --git a/IPython/lib/tests/test_irunner.py b/IPython/lib/tests/test_irunner.py
index dcad7aa..b49bc86 100644
--- a/IPython/lib/tests/test_irunner.py
+++ b/IPython/lib/tests/test_irunner.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import unittest
 # IPython imports
 from IPython.lib import irunner
 from IPython.testing.decorators import known_failure_py3
+from IPython.utils.py3compat import doctest_refactor_print
 
 # Testing code begins
 class RunnerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -57,11 +58,11 @@ class RunnerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assert_(mismatch==0,'Number of mismatched lines: %s' %
                      mismatch)
 
-    # irunner isn't working on Python 3 (due to pexpect)
+    # The SyntaxError appears differently in Python 3, for some reason.
     @known_failure_py3
     def testIPython(self):
         """Test the IPython runner."""
-        source = """
+        source = doctest_refactor_print("""
 print 'hello, this is python'
 # some more code
 x=1;y=2
@@ -76,13 +77,13 @@ cos pi
 cos(pi)
 
 for i in range(5):
-    print i,
+    print i
 
 print "that's all folks!"
 
 exit
-"""
-        output = """\
+""")
+        output = doctest_refactor_print("""\
 In [1]: print 'hello, this is python'
 hello, this is python
 
@@ -119,24 +120,27 @@ Out[9]: -1.0
 
 
 In [10]: for i in range(5):
-   ....:     print i,
+   ....:     print i
    ....:
-0 1 2 3 4
+0
+1
+2
+3
+4
 
 In [11]: print "that's all folks!"
 that's all folks!
 
 
 In [12]: exit
-"""
+""")
         runner = irunner.IPythonRunner(out=self.out)
         self._test_runner(runner,source,output)
 
-    @known_failure_py3
     def testPython(self):
         """Test the Python runner."""
         runner = irunner.PythonRunner(out=self.out)
-        source = """
+        source = doctest_refactor_print("""
 print 'hello, this is python'
 
 # some more code
@@ -147,11 +151,11 @@ from math import *
 cos(pi)
 
 for i in range(5):
-    print i,
+    print i
 
 print "that's all folks!"
-        """
-        output = """\
+        """)
+        output = doctest_refactor_print("""\
 >>> print 'hello, this is python'
 hello, this is python
 
@@ -165,10 +169,14 @@ hello, this is python
 -1.0
 
 >>> for i in range(5):
-...     print i,
+...     print i
 ...
-0 1 2 3 4
+0
+1
+2
+3
+4
 >>> print "that's all folks!"
 that's all folks!
-"""
+""")
         self._test_runner(runner,source,output)
diff --git a/IPython/lib/tests/test_irunner_pylab_magic.py b/IPython/lib/tests/test_irunner_pylab_magic.py
index 1d3ef7b..eb3f352 100644
--- a/IPython/lib/tests/test_irunner_pylab_magic.py
+++ b/IPython/lib/tests/test_irunner_pylab_magic.py
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ class RunnerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         self.out = StringIO.StringIO()
         #self.out = sys.stdout
 
-    @decorators.known_failure_py3
     def _test_runner(self,runner,source,output):
         """Test that a given runner's input/output match."""
 
@@ -83,7 +82,6 @@ Out\[6\]: True
         runner = irunner.IPythonRunner(out=self.out)
         self._test_runner(runner,source,output)
 
-    @decorators.known_failure_py3
     @decorators.skipif_not_matplotlib
     def test_pylab_import_all_disabled(self):
         "Verify that plot is not available when pylab_import_all = False"