diff --git a/IPython/utils/_process_win32.py b/IPython/utils/_process_win32.py
index f6a828b..cf53c57 100644
--- a/IPython/utils/_process_win32.py
+++ b/IPython/utils/_process_win32.py
@@ -154,8 +154,8 @@ def getoutput(cmd):
         out = process_handler(cmd, lambda p: p.communicate()[0], STDOUT)
 
     if out is None:
-        out = ''
-    return out
+        out = b''
+    return py3compat.bytes_to_str(out)
 
 try:
     CommandLineToArgvW = ctypes.windll.shell32.CommandLineToArgvW
diff --git a/IPython/utils/path.py b/IPython/utils/path.py
index 3a6ff13..2fed989 100644
--- a/IPython/utils/path.py
+++ b/IPython/utils/path.py
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ import warnings
 from hashlib import md5
 
 import IPython
+from IPython.testing.skipdoctest import skip_doctest
 from IPython.utils.process import system
 from IPython.utils.importstring import import_item
 from IPython.utils import py3compat
-
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Code
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ def _writable_dir(path):
     return os.path.isdir(path) and os.access(path, os.W_OK)
 
 if sys.platform == 'win32':
+    @skip_doctest
     def _get_long_path_name(path):
         """Get a long path name (expand ~) on Windows using ctypes.