# HG changeset patch
# User Mads Kiilerich <mads@kiilerich.com>
# Date 2019-12-26 12:16:14
# Node ID e51ad2cd400e42698faa91ac5b4d21fa6e970eab
# Parent  e35373106528b29461b7f5144780cb9ec79f765d

py3: drop the last uses of safe_str - they are no longer relevant when we don't have a separate unicode type

diff --git a/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_repo.py b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_repo.py
--- a/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_repo.py
+++ b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_repo.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import click
 
 import kallithea.bin.kallithea_cli_base as cli_base
 from kallithea.lib.utils import REMOVED_REPO_PAT, repo2db_mapper
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import ask_ok, safe_str
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import ask_ok
 from kallithea.model.db import Repository, Ui
 from kallithea.model.meta import Session
 from kallithea.model.scm import ScmModel
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ def repo_purge_deleted(ask, older_than):
 
     repos_location = Ui.get_repos_location()
     to_remove = []
-    for dn_, dirs, f in os.walk(safe_str(repos_location)):
+    for dn_, dirs, f in os.walk(repos_location):
         alldirs = list(dirs)
         del dirs[:]
         if ('.hg' in alldirs or
@@ -175,9 +175,8 @@ def repo_purge_deleted(ask, older_than):
         remove = True
     else:
         remove = ask_ok('The following repositories will be removed completely:\n%s\n'
-                'Do you want to proceed? [y/n] '
-                % '\n'.join(['%s deleted on %s' % (safe_str(x[0]), safe_str(x[1]))
-                                     for x in to_remove]))
+            'Do you want to proceed? [y/n] ' %
+            '\n'.join('%s deleted on %s' % (path, date_) for path, date_ in to_remove))
 
     if remove:
         for path, date_ in to_remove:
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/api/__init__.py b/kallithea/controllers/api/__init__.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/api/__init__.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/api/__init__.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ from kallithea.lib import ext_json
 from kallithea.lib.auth import AuthUser
 from kallithea.lib.base import _get_ip_addr as _get_ip
 from kallithea.lib.base import get_path_info
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import ascii_bytes, safe_str
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import ascii_bytes
 from kallithea.model.db import User
 
 
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ class JSONRPCError(BaseException):
         super(JSONRPCError, self).__init__()
 
     def __str__(self):
-        return safe_str(self.message)
+        return self.message
 
 
 class JSONRPCErrorResponse(Response, HTTPException):
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/compare.py b/kallithea/controllers/compare.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/compare.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/compare.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
 from kallithea.lib.auth import HasRepoPermissionLevelDecorator, LoginRequired
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseRepoController, render
 from kallithea.lib.graphmod import graph_data
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import ascii_bytes, ascii_str, safe_bytes, safe_int, safe_str
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import ascii_bytes, ascii_str, safe_bytes, safe_int
 from kallithea.model.db import Repository
 
 
@@ -135,10 +135,10 @@ class CompareController(BaseRepoControll
                 from dulwich.client import SubprocessGitClient
 
                 gitrepo = Repo(org_repo.path)
-                SubprocessGitClient(thin_packs=False).fetch(safe_str(other_repo.path), gitrepo)
+                SubprocessGitClient(thin_packs=False).fetch(other_repo.path, gitrepo)
 
                 gitrepo_remote = Repo(other_repo.path)
-                SubprocessGitClient(thin_packs=False).fetch(safe_str(org_repo.path), gitrepo_remote)
+                SubprocessGitClient(thin_packs=False).fetch(org_repo.path, gitrepo_remote)
 
                 revs = [
                     ascii_str(x.commit.id)
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/files.py b/kallithea/controllers/files.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/files.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/files.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ from kallithea.lib.auth import HasRepoPe
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseRepoController, jsonify, render
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import NonRelativePathError
 from kallithea.lib.utils import action_logger
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import convert_line_endings, detect_mode, safe_int, safe_str, safe_unicode, str2bool
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import convert_line_endings, detect_mode, safe_int, safe_unicode, str2bool
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.base import EmptyChangeset
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.conf import settings
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.exceptions import (
@@ -232,8 +232,8 @@ class FilesController(BaseRepoController
         cs = self.__get_cs(revision)
         file_node = self.__get_filenode(cs, f_path)
 
-        response.content_disposition = 'attachment; filename=%s' % \
-            safe_str(f_path.split(Repository.url_sep())[-1])
+        response.content_disposition = \
+            'attachment; filename=%s' % f_path.split(Repository.url_sep())[-1]
 
         response.content_type = file_node.mimetype
         return file_node.content
@@ -277,8 +277,7 @@ class FilesController(BaseRepoController
                 mimetype, dispo = 'text/plain', 'inline'
 
         if dispo == 'attachment':
-            dispo = 'attachment; filename=%s' % \
-                        safe_str(f_path.split(os.sep)[-1])
+            dispo = 'attachment; filename=%s' % f_path.split(os.sep)[-1]
 
         response.content_disposition = dispo
         response.content_type = mimetype
@@ -508,8 +507,7 @@ class FilesController(BaseRepoController
 
         from kallithea import CONFIG
         rev_name = cs.raw_id[:12]
-        archive_name = '%s-%s%s' % (safe_str(repo_name.replace('/', '_')),
-                                    safe_str(rev_name), ext)
+        archive_name = '%s-%s%s' % (repo_name.replace('/', '_'), rev_name, ext)
 
         archive_path = None
         cached_archive_path = None
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/login.py b/kallithea/controllers/login.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/login.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/login.py
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib.auth import AuthUser, HasPermissionAnyDecorator
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseController, log_in_user, render
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import UserCreationError
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_str
 from kallithea.model.db import Setting, User
 from kallithea.model.forms import LoginForm, PasswordResetConfirmationForm, PasswordResetRequestForm, RegisterForm
 from kallithea.model.meta import Session
@@ -68,7 +67,7 @@ class LoginController(BaseController):
         return _re.match(came_from) is not None
 
     def index(self):
-        c.came_from = safe_str(request.GET.get('came_from', ''))
+        c.came_from = request.GET.get('came_from', '')
         if c.came_from:
             if not self._validate_came_from(c.came_from):
                 log.error('Invalid came_from (not server-relative): %r', c.came_from)
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/pullrequests.py b/kallithea/controllers/pullrequests.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/pullrequests.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/pullrequests.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ from kallithea.lib.auth import HasRepoPe
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseRepoController, jsonify, render
 from kallithea.lib.graphmod import graph_data
 from kallithea.lib.page import Page
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import ascii_bytes, safe_bytes, safe_int, safe_str
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import ascii_bytes, safe_bytes, safe_int
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.exceptions import ChangesetDoesNotExistError, EmptyRepositoryError
 from kallithea.model.changeset_status import ChangesetStatusModel
 from kallithea.model.comment import ChangesetCommentsModel
@@ -82,12 +82,6 @@ class PullrequestsController(BaseRepoCon
         # list named branches that has been merged to this named branch - it should probably merge back
         peers = []
 
-        if rev:
-            rev = safe_str(rev)
-
-        if branch:
-            branch = safe_str(branch)
-
         if branch_rev:
             # a revset not restricting to merge() would be better
             # (especially because it would get the branch point)
@@ -586,7 +580,7 @@ class PullrequestsController(BaseRepoCon
         log.debug('running diff between %s and %s in %s',
                   c.a_rev, c.cs_rev, org_scm_instance.path)
         try:
-            raw_diff = diffs.get_diff(org_scm_instance, rev1=safe_str(c.a_rev), rev2=safe_str(c.cs_rev),
+            raw_diff = diffs.get_diff(org_scm_instance, rev1=c.a_rev, rev2=c.cs_rev,
                                       ignore_whitespace=ignore_whitespace, context=line_context)
         except ChangesetDoesNotExistError:
             raw_diff = safe_bytes(_("The diff can't be shown - the PR revisions could not be found."))
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/search.py b/kallithea/controllers/search.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/search.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/search.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ from kallithea.lib.auth import LoginRequ
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseRepoController, render
 from kallithea.lib.indexers import CHGSET_IDX_NAME, CHGSETS_SCHEMA, IDX_NAME, SCHEMA, WhooshResultWrapper
 from kallithea.lib.page import Page
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_int, safe_str
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_int
 from kallithea.model.repo import RepoModel
 
 
@@ -124,8 +124,8 @@ class SearchController(BaseRepoControlle
                         page=p,
                         item_count=res_ln,
                         items_per_page=10,
-                        type=safe_str(c.cur_type),
-                        q=safe_str(c.cur_query),
+                        type=c.cur_type,
+                        q=c.cur_query,
                     )
 
                 except QueryParserError:
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/auth_modules/auth_container.py b/kallithea/lib/auth_modules/auth_container.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/auth_modules/auth_container.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/auth_modules/auth_container.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import logging
 
 from kallithea.lib import auth_modules
 from kallithea.lib.compat import hybrid_property
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_str, str2bool
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import str2bool
 from kallithea.model.db import Setting
 
 
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ class KallitheaAuthPlugin(auth_modules.K
         # only way to log in is using environ
         username = None
         if userobj:
-            username = safe_str(getattr(userobj, 'username'))
+            username = getattr(userobj, 'username')
 
         if not username:
             # we don't have any objects in DB, user doesn't exist, extract
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/auth_modules/auth_ldap.py b/kallithea/lib/auth_modules/auth_ldap.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/auth_modules/auth_ldap.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/auth_modules/auth_ldap.py
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ import logging
 from kallithea.lib import auth_modules
 from kallithea.lib.compat import hybrid_property
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import LdapConnectionError, LdapImportError, LdapPasswordError, LdapUsernameError
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_str
 
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -70,11 +69,11 @@ class AuthLdap(object):
                             port)
             for host in server.split(',')))
 
-        self.LDAP_BIND_DN = safe_str(bind_dn)
-        self.LDAP_BIND_PASS = safe_str(bind_pass)
+        self.LDAP_BIND_DN = bind_dn
+        self.LDAP_BIND_PASS = bind_pass
 
-        self.BASE_DN = safe_str(base_dn)
-        self.LDAP_FILTER = safe_str(ldap_filter)
+        self.BASE_DN = base_dn
+        self.LDAP_FILTER = ldap_filter
         self.SEARCH_SCOPE = getattr(ldap, 'SCOPE_%s' % search_scope)
         self.attr_login = attr_login
 
@@ -139,7 +138,7 @@ class AuthLdap(object):
 
                 try:
                     log.debug('Trying simple bind with %s', dn)
-                    server.simple_bind_s(dn, safe_str(password))
+                    server.simple_bind_s(dn, password)
                     results = server.search_ext_s(dn, ldap.SCOPE_BASE,
                                                   '(objectClass=*)')
                     if len(results) == 1:
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/base.py b/kallithea/lib/base.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/base.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/base.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ from kallithea.lib import auth_modules, 
 from kallithea.lib.auth import AuthUser, HasPermissionAnyMiddleware
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import UserCreationError
 from kallithea.lib.utils import get_repo_slug, is_valid_repo
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import AttributeDict, ascii_bytes, safe_int, safe_str, safe_unicode, set_hook_environment, str2bool
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import AttributeDict, ascii_bytes, safe_int, safe_unicode, set_hook_environment, str2bool
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.exceptions import ChangesetDoesNotExistError, EmptyRepositoryError, RepositoryError
 from kallithea.model import meta
 from kallithea.model.db import PullRequest, Repository, Setting, User
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ class BaseVCSController(object):
 
         # If not authenticated by the container, running basic auth
         if not username:
-            self.authenticate.realm = safe_str(self.config['realm'])
+            self.authenticate.realm = self.config['realm']
             result = self.authenticate(environ)
             if isinstance(result, str):
                 paste.httpheaders.AUTH_TYPE.update(environ, 'basic')
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ class BaseVCSController(object):
 
             try:
                 log.info('%s action on %s repo "%s" by "%s" from %s',
-                         parsed_request.action, self.scm_alias, parsed_request.repo_name, safe_str(user.username), ip_addr)
+                         parsed_request.action, self.scm_alias, parsed_request.repo_name, user.username, ip_addr)
                 app = self._make_app(parsed_request)
                 return app(environ, start_response)
             except Exception:
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/caching_query.py b/kallithea/lib/caching_query.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/caching_query.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/caching_query.py
@@ -24,8 +24,6 @@ from sqlalchemy.orm.interfaces import Ma
 from sqlalchemy.orm.query import Query
 from sqlalchemy.sql import visitors
 
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_str
-
 
 class CachingQuery(Query):
     """A Query subclass which optionally loads full results from a Beaker
@@ -175,7 +173,7 @@ def _set_cache_parameters(query, region,
                         "for region %r namespace %r" %
                         (region, namespace)
                     )
-    query._cache_parameters = region, safe_str(namespace), cache_key
+    query._cache_parameters = region, namespace, cache_key
 
 
 class FromCache(MapperOption):
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/hooks.py b/kallithea/lib/hooks.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/hooks.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/hooks.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ import mercurial.scmutil
 from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import UserCreationError
 from kallithea.lib.utils import action_logger, make_ui
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import HookEnvironmentError, ascii_str, get_hook_environment, safe_bytes, safe_str
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import HookEnvironmentError, ascii_str, get_hook_environment, safe_bytes
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.base import EmptyChangeset
 from kallithea.model.db import Repository, User
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def _get_scm_size(alias, root_path):
         alias += '.'
 
     size_scm, size_root = 0, 0
-    for path, dirs, files in os.walk(safe_str(root_path)):
+    for path, dirs, files in os.walk(root_path):
         if path.find(alias) != -1:
             for f in files:
                 try:
@@ -318,8 +318,7 @@ def _hook_environment(repo_path):
 
     repo = Repository.get_by_full_path(repo_path)
     if not repo:
-        raise OSError('Repository %s not found in database'
-                      % (safe_str(repo_path)))
+        raise OSError('Repository %s not found in database' % repo_path)
 
     baseui = make_ui()
     return baseui, repo
@@ -397,5 +396,5 @@ def handle_git_post_receive(repo_path, g
 def rejectpush(ui, **kwargs):
     """Mercurial hook to be installed as pretxnopen and prepushkey for read-only repos"""
     ex = get_hook_environment()
-    ui.warn(safe_bytes("Push access to %r denied\n" % safe_str(ex.repository)))
+    ui.warn(safe_bytes("Push access to %r denied\n" % ex.repository))
     return 1
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/indexers/daemon.py b/kallithea/lib/indexers/daemon.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/indexers/daemon.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/indexers/daemon.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ from whoosh.qparser import QueryParser
 
 from kallithea.config.conf import INDEX_EXTENSIONS, INDEX_FILENAMES
 from kallithea.lib.indexers import CHGSET_IDX_NAME, CHGSETS_SCHEMA, IDX_NAME, SCHEMA
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_str, safe_unicode
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_unicode
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.exceptions import ChangesetError, NodeDoesNotExistError, RepositoryError
 from kallithea.model.db import Repository
 from kallithea.model.scm import ScmModel
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ class WhooshIndexingDaemon(object):
             cs = self._get_index_changeset(repo)
             for _topnode, _dirs, files in cs.walk('/'):
                 for f in files:
-                    index_paths_.add(os.path.join(safe_str(repo.path), safe_str(f.path)))
+                    index_paths_.add(os.path.join(repo.path, f.path))
 
         except RepositoryError:
             log.debug(traceback.format_exc())
@@ -141,19 +141,16 @@ class WhooshIndexingDaemon(object):
 
     def get_node(self, repo, path, index_rev=None):
         """
-        gets a filenode based on given full path. It operates on string for
-        hg git compatibility.
+        gets a filenode based on given full path.
 
         :param repo: scm repo instance
         :param path: full path including root location
         :return: FileNode
         """
         # FIXME: paths should be normalized ... or even better: don't include repo.path
-        path = safe_str(path)
-        repo_path = safe_str(repo.path)
-        assert path.startswith(repo_path)
-        assert path[len(repo_path)] in (os.path.sep, os.path.altsep)
-        node_path = path[len(repo_path) + 1:]
+        assert path.startswith(repo.path)
+        assert path[len(repo.path)] in (os.path.sep, os.path.altsep)
+        node_path = path[len(repo.path) + 1:]
         cs = self._get_index_changeset(repo, index_rev=index_rev)
         node = cs.get_node(node_path)
         return node
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/middleware/simplehg.py b/kallithea/lib/middleware/simplehg.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/middleware/simplehg.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/middleware/simplehg.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ import mercurial.hgweb
 
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseVCSController, get_path_info
 from kallithea.lib.utils import make_ui
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_bytes, safe_str
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_bytes
 
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -137,13 +137,13 @@ class SimpleHg(BaseVCSController):
         """
         Make an hgweb wsgi application.
         """
-        str_repo_name = safe_str(parsed_request.repo_name)
-        repo_path = os.path.join(safe_str(self.basepath), str_repo_name)
+        repo_name = parsed_request.repo_name
+        repo_path = os.path.join(self.basepath, repo_name)
         baseui = make_ui(repo_path=repo_path)
-        hgweb_app = mercurial.hgweb.hgweb(safe_bytes(repo_path), name=str_repo_name, baseui=baseui)
+        hgweb_app = mercurial.hgweb.hgweb(safe_bytes(repo_path), name=safe_bytes(repo_name), baseui=baseui)
 
         def wrapper_app(environ, start_response):
-            environ['REPO_NAME'] = str_repo_name # used by mercurial.hgweb.hgweb
+            environ['REPO_NAME'] = repo_name # used by mercurial.hgweb.hgweb
             return hgweb_app(environ, start_response)
 
         return wrapper_app
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/utils.py b/kallithea/lib/utils.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/utils.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/utils.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ from tg.i18n import ugettext as _
 
 import kallithea.config.conf
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import HgsubversionImportError
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import ascii_bytes, aslist, get_current_authuser, safe_bytes, safe_str
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import ascii_bytes, aslist, get_current_authuser, safe_bytes
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.git.repository import GitRepository
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.hg.repository import MercurialRepository
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.conf import settings
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ def get_filesystem_repos(path):
     """
 
     # remove ending slash for better results
-    path = safe_str(path.rstrip(os.sep))
+    path = path.rstrip(os.sep)
     log.debug('now scanning in %s', path)
 
     def isdir(*n):
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ def is_valid_repo(repo_name, base_path, 
     :return True: if given path is a valid repository
     """
     # TODO: paranoid security checks?
-    full_path = os.path.join(safe_str(base_path), safe_str(repo_name))
+    full_path = os.path.join(base_path, repo_name)
 
     try:
         scm_ = get_scm(full_path)
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ def is_valid_repo_group(repo_group_name,
     :param repo_name:
     :param base_path:
     """
-    full_path = os.path.join(safe_str(base_path), safe_str(repo_group_name))
+    full_path = os.path.join(base_path, repo_group_name)
 
     # check if it's not a repo
     if is_valid_repo(repo_group_name, base_path):
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/utils2.py b/kallithea/lib/utils2.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/utils2.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/utils2.py
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ def get_clone_url(clone_uri_tmpl, prefix
         system_user = 'kallithea' # hardcoded default value ...
     args = {
         'scheme': parsed_url.scheme,
-        'user': urllib.parse.quote(safe_str(username or '')),
+        'user': urllib.parse.quote(username or ''),
         'netloc': parsed_url.netloc + prefix,  # like "hostname:port/prefix" (with optional ":port" and "/prefix")
         'prefix': prefix, # undocumented, empty or starting with /
         'repo': repo_name,
@@ -561,7 +561,7 @@ class Optional(object):
 
 
 def urlreadable(s, _cleanstringsub=re.compile('[^-a-zA-Z0-9./]+').sub):
-    return _cleanstringsub('_', safe_str(s)).rstrip('_')
+    return _cleanstringsub('_', s).rstrip('_')
 
 
 def recursive_replace(str_, replace=' '):
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/changeset.py b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/changeset.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/changeset.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/changeset.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from kallithea.lib.vcs.conf import setti
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.exceptions import ChangesetDoesNotExistError, ChangesetError, ImproperArchiveTypeError, NodeDoesNotExistError, RepositoryError, VCSError
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.nodes import (
     AddedFileNodesGenerator, ChangedFileNodesGenerator, DirNode, FileNode, NodeKind, RemovedFileNodesGenerator, RootNode, SubModuleNode)
-from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import ascii_bytes, ascii_str, date_fromtimestamp, safe_int, safe_str, safe_unicode
+from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import ascii_bytes, ascii_str, date_fromtimestamp, safe_int, safe_unicode
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.lazy import LazyProperty
 
 
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ class GitChangeset(BaseChangeset):
     def __init__(self, repository, revision):
         self._stat_modes = {}
         self.repository = repository
-        revision = safe_str(revision)
         try:
             commit = self.repository._repo[ascii_bytes(revision)]
             if isinstance(commit, objects.Tag):
@@ -109,7 +108,6 @@ class GitChangeset(BaseChangeset):
         return path
 
     def _get_id_for_path(self, path):
-        path = safe_str(path)
         # FIXME: Please, spare a couple of minutes and make those codes cleaner;
         if path not in self._paths:
             path = path.strip('/')
@@ -159,7 +157,7 @@ class GitChangeset(BaseChangeset):
             if path not in self._paths:
                 raise NodeDoesNotExistError("There is no file nor directory "
                     "at the given path '%s' at revision %s"
-                    % (path, safe_str(self.short_id)))
+                    % (path, self.short_id))
         return self._paths[path]
 
     def _get_kind(self, path):
@@ -252,7 +250,6 @@ class GitChangeset(BaseChangeset):
         Returns stat mode of the file at the given ``path``.
         """
         # ensure path is traversed
-        path = safe_str(path)
         self._get_id_for_path(path)
         return self._stat_modes[path]
 
@@ -288,15 +285,14 @@ class GitChangeset(BaseChangeset):
         iterating commits.
         """
         self._get_filectx(path)
-        f_path = safe_str(path)
 
         if limit is not None:
             cmd = ['log', '-n', str(safe_int(limit, 0)),
-                   '--pretty=format:%H', '-s', self.raw_id, '--', f_path]
+                   '--pretty=format:%H', '-s', self.raw_id, '--', path]
 
         else:
             cmd = ['log',
-                   '--pretty=format:%H', '-s', self.raw_id, '--', f_path]
+                   '--pretty=format:%H', '-s', self.raw_id, '--', path]
         so = self.repository.run_git_command(cmd)
         ids = re.findall(r'[0-9a-fA-F]{40}', so)
         return [self.repository.get_changeset(sha) for sha in ids]
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.base imp
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.conf import settings
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.exceptions import (
     BranchDoesNotExistError, ChangesetDoesNotExistError, EmptyRepositoryError, RepositoryError, TagAlreadyExistError, TagDoesNotExistError)
-from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import ascii_str, date_fromtimestamp, makedate, safe_bytes, safe_str, safe_unicode
+from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import ascii_str, date_fromtimestamp, makedate, safe_bytes, safe_unicode
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.lazy import LazyProperty
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.paths import abspath, get_user_home
 
@@ -317,7 +317,6 @@ class GitRepository(BaseRepository):
         Returns normalized url. If schema is not given, would fall to
         filesystem (``file:///``) schema.
         """
-        url = safe_str(url)
         if url != 'default' and '://' not in url:
             url = ':///'.join(('file', url))
         return url
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/ssh.py b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/ssh.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/ssh.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/ssh.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import os
 from kallithea.lib.hooks import log_pull_action
 from kallithea.lib.utils import make_ui
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.ssh import BaseSshHandler
-from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import safe_str
 
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -70,7 +69,7 @@ class GitSshHandler(BaseSshHandler):
             log_pull_action(ui=make_ui(), repo=self.db_repo.scm_instance._repo)
         else: # probably verb 'git-receive-pack', action 'push'
             if not self.allow_push:
-                self.exit('Push access to %r denied' % safe_str(self.repo_name))
+                self.exit('Push access to %r denied' % self.repo_name)
             # Note: push logging is handled by Git post-receive hook
 
         # git shell is not a real shell but use shell inspired quoting *inside* the argument.
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/hg/changeset.py b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/hg/changeset.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/hg/changeset.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/hg/changeset.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from kallithea.lib.vcs.conf import setti
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.exceptions import ChangesetDoesNotExistError, ChangesetError, ImproperArchiveTypeError, NodeDoesNotExistError, VCSError
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.nodes import (
     AddedFileNodesGenerator, ChangedFileNodesGenerator, DirNode, FileNode, NodeKind, RemovedFileNodesGenerator, RootNode, SubModuleNode)
-from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import ascii_bytes, ascii_str, date_fromtimestamp, safe_bytes, safe_str, safe_unicode
+from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import ascii_bytes, ascii_str, date_fromtimestamp, safe_bytes, safe_unicode
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.lazy import LazyProperty
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.paths import get_dirs_for_path
 
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ class MercurialChangeset(BaseChangeset):
         if path.endswith('/'):
             path = path.rstrip('/')
 
-        return safe_str(path)
+        return path
 
     def _get_kind(self, path):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ import mercurial.util
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.base import BaseRepository, CollectionGenerator
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.exceptions import (
     BranchDoesNotExistError, ChangesetDoesNotExistError, EmptyRepositoryError, RepositoryError, TagAlreadyExistError, TagDoesNotExistError, VCSError)
-from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import ascii_str, author_email, author_name, date_fromtimestamp, makedate, safe_bytes, safe_str, safe_unicode
+from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import ascii_str, author_email, author_name, date_fromtimestamp, makedate, safe_bytes, safe_unicode
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.lazy import LazyProperty
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.paths import abspath
 
@@ -446,7 +446,6 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository
         """
         Returns revision number for the given reference.
         """
-        ref_name = safe_str(ref_name)
         if ref_type == 'rev' and not ref_name.strip('0'):
             return self.EMPTY_CHANGESET
         # lookup up the exact node id
@@ -485,11 +484,9 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository
 
     def _get_url(self, url):
         """
-        Returns normalized url. If schema is not given, would fall
-        to filesystem
-        (``file:///``) schema.
+        Returns normalized url. If schema is not given, fall back to
+        filesystem (``file:///``) schema.
         """
-        url = safe_str(url)
         if url != 'default' and '://' not in url:
             url = "file:" + urllib.request.pathname2url(url)
         return url
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/ssh.py b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/ssh.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/ssh.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/ssh.py
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ import sys
 
 from kallithea.lib.auth import AuthUser, HasPermissionAnyMiddleware
 from kallithea.lib.utils2 import set_hook_environment
-from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import safe_str
 from kallithea.model.db import Repository, User, UserSshKeys
 from kallithea.model.meta import Session
 
@@ -83,7 +82,7 @@ class BaseSshHandler(object):
         elif HasPermissionAnyMiddleware('repository.read')(self.authuser, self.repo_name):
             self.allow_push = False
         else:
-            self.exit('Access to %r denied' % safe_str(self.repo_name))
+            self.exit('Access to %r denied' % self.repo_name)
 
         self.db_repo = Repository.get_by_repo_name(self.repo_name)
         if self.db_repo is None:
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/vcs/nodes.py b/kallithea/lib/vcs/nodes.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/vcs/nodes.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/vcs/nodes.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import stat
 
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.base import EmptyChangeset
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.exceptions import NodeError, RemovedFileNodeError
-from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import safe_bytes, safe_str, safe_unicode
+from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import safe_bytes, safe_unicode
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.lazy import LazyProperty
 
 
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ class Node(object):
         if path.startswith('/'):
             raise NodeError("Cannot initialize Node objects with slash at "
                             "the beginning as only relative paths are supported")
-        self.path = safe_str(path.rstrip('/'))  # we store paths as str
+        self.path = path.rstrip('/')
         if path == '' and kind != NodeKind.DIR:
             raise NodeError("Only DirNode and its subclasses may be "
                             "initialized with empty path")
@@ -592,7 +592,7 @@ class SubModuleNode(Node):
         self.alias = alias
         # we have to use emptyChangeset here since this can point to svn/git/hg
         # submodules we cannot get from repository
-        self.changeset = EmptyChangeset(str(changeset), alias=alias)
+        self.changeset = EmptyChangeset(changeset, alias=alias)
         self.url = url
 
     def __repr__(self):
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/vcs/utils/__init__.py b/kallithea/lib/vcs/utils/__init__.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/vcs/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/vcs/utils/__init__.py
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ def author_email(author):
     m = email_re.search(author)
     if m is None:
         return ''
-    return safe_str(m.group(0))
+    return m.group(0)
 
 
 def author_name(author):
diff --git a/kallithea/model/db.py b/kallithea/model/db.py
--- a/kallithea/model/db.py
+++ b/kallithea/model/db.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ from kallithea.lib import ext_json
 from kallithea.lib.caching_query import FromCache
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import DefaultUserException
 from kallithea.lib.utils2 import (
-    Optional, ascii_bytes, aslist, get_changeset_safe, get_clone_url, remove_prefix, safe_bytes, safe_int, safe_str, safe_unicode, str2bool, urlreadable)
+    Optional, ascii_bytes, aslist, get_changeset_safe, get_clone_url, remove_prefix, safe_bytes, safe_int, safe_unicode, str2bool, urlreadable)
 from kallithea.lib.vcs import get_backend
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.base import EmptyChangeset
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.helpers import get_scm
@@ -1424,7 +1424,7 @@ class Repository(Base, BaseDbModel):
         return _c(rn)
 
     def scm_instance_no_cache(self):
-        repo_full_path = safe_str(self.repo_full_path)
+        repo_full_path = self.repo_full_path
         alias = get_scm(repo_full_path)[0]
         log.debug('Creating instance of %s repository from %s',
                   alias, self.repo_full_path)
@@ -2091,11 +2091,11 @@ class CacheInvalidation(Base, BaseDbMode
         """
         inv_objs = Session().query(cls).filter(cls.cache_args == repo_name).all()
         log.debug('for repo %s got %s invalidation objects',
-                  safe_str(repo_name), inv_objs)
+                  repo_name, inv_objs)
 
         for inv_obj in inv_objs:
             log.debug('marking %s key for invalidation based on repo_name=%s',
-                      inv_obj, safe_str(repo_name))
+                      inv_obj, repo_name)
             Session().delete(inv_obj)
         Session().commit()
 
@@ -2517,7 +2517,7 @@ class Gist(Base, BaseDbModel):
     def scm_instance(self):
         from kallithea.lib.vcs import get_repo
         base_path = self.base_path()
-        return get_repo(os.path.join(safe_str(base_path), safe_str(self.gist_access_id)))
+        return get_repo(os.path.join(base_path, self.gist_access_id))
 
 
 class UserSshKeys(Base, BaseDbModel):
diff --git a/kallithea/model/repo.py b/kallithea/model/repo.py
--- a/kallithea/model/repo.py
+++ b/kallithea/model/repo.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ from kallithea.lib.caching_query import 
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import AttachedForksError
 from kallithea.lib.hooks import log_delete_repository
 from kallithea.lib.utils import is_valid_repo_uri, make_ui
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import LazyProperty, get_current_authuser, obfuscate_url_pw, remove_prefix, safe_str
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import LazyProperty, get_current_authuser, obfuscate_url_pw, remove_prefix
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends import get_backend
 from kallithea.model.db import (
     Permission, RepoGroup, Repository, RepositoryField, Session, Statistics, Ui, User, UserGroup, UserGroupRepoGroupToPerm, UserGroupRepoToPerm, UserRepoGroupToPerm, UserRepoToPerm)
@@ -641,8 +641,7 @@ class RepoModel(object):
             _paths = [repo_store_location]
         else:
             _paths = [self.repos_path, new_parent_path, repo_name]
-            # we need to make it str for mercurial
-        repo_path = os.path.join(*(safe_str(x) for x in _paths))
+        repo_path = os.path.join(*_paths)
 
         # check if this path is not a repository
         if is_valid_repo(repo_path, self.repos_path):
@@ -686,8 +685,8 @@ class RepoModel(object):
         """
         log.info('renaming repo from %s to %s', old, new)
 
-        old_path = safe_str(os.path.join(self.repos_path, old))
-        new_path = safe_str(os.path.join(self.repos_path, new))
+        old_path = os.path.join(self.repos_path, old)
+        new_path = os.path.join(self.repos_path, new)
         if os.path.isdir(new_path):
             raise Exception(
                 'Was trying to rename to already existing dir %s' % new_path
@@ -702,7 +701,7 @@ class RepoModel(object):
 
         :param repo: repo object
         """
-        rm_path = safe_str(os.path.join(self.repos_path, repo.repo_name))
+        rm_path = os.path.join(self.repos_path, repo.repo_name)
         log.info("Removing %s", rm_path)
 
         _now = datetime.now()
@@ -713,6 +712,6 @@ class RepoModel(object):
             args = repo.group.full_path_splitted + [_d]
             _d = os.path.join(*args)
         if os.path.exists(rm_path):
-            shutil.move(rm_path, safe_str(os.path.join(self.repos_path, _d)))
+            shutil.move(rm_path, os.path.join(self.repos_path, _d))
         else:
             log.error("Can't find repo to delete in %r", rm_path)
diff --git a/kallithea/model/scm.py b/kallithea/model/scm.py
--- a/kallithea/model/scm.py
+++ b/kallithea/model/scm.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ from kallithea.lib.auth import HasPermis
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import IMCCommitError, NonRelativePathError
 from kallithea.lib.hooks import process_pushed_raw_ids
 from kallithea.lib.utils import action_logger, get_filesystem_repos, make_ui
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_bytes, safe_str, set_hook_environment
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_bytes, set_hook_environment
 from kallithea.lib.vcs import get_backend
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.base import EmptyChangeset
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.exceptions import RepositoryError
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ class ScmModel(object):
                     klass = get_backend(path[0])
 
                     if path[0] == 'hg' and path[0] in BACKENDS:
-                        repos[name] = klass(safe_str(path[1]), baseui=baseui)
+                        repos[name] = klass(path[1], baseui=baseui)
 
                     if path[0] == 'git' and path[0] in BACKENDS:
                         repos[name] = klass(path[1])
@@ -396,13 +396,8 @@ class ScmModel(object):
         """
         user = User.guess_instance(user)
         IMC = self._get_IMC_module(repo.alias)
-
-        # decoding here will force that we have proper encoded values
-        # in any other case this will throw exceptions and deny commit
-        content = safe_str(content)
-        path = safe_str(f_path)
         imc = IMC(repo)
-        imc.change(FileNode(path, content, mode=cs.get_file_mode(f_path)))
+        imc.change(FileNode(f_path, content, mode=cs.get_file_mode(f_path)))
         try:
             tip = imc.commit(message=message, author=author,
                              parents=[cs], branch=cs.branch)
@@ -478,12 +473,7 @@ class ScmModel(object):
         for f_path in nodes:
             content = nodes[f_path]['content']
             f_path = self._sanitize_path(f_path)
-            f_path = safe_str(f_path)
-            # decoding here will force that we have proper encoded values
-            # in any other case this will throw exceptions and deny commit
-            if isinstance(content, (str,)):
-                content = safe_str(content)
-            else:
+            if not isinstance(content, str) and not isinstance(content, bytes):
                 content = content.read()
             processed_nodes.append((f_path, content))
 
diff --git a/kallithea/tests/base.py b/kallithea/tests/base.py
--- a/kallithea/tests/base.py
+++ b/kallithea/tests/base.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import time
 import pytest
 from webtest import TestApp
 
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import ascii_str, safe_str
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import ascii_str
 from kallithea.model.db import User
 
 
@@ -180,16 +180,15 @@ class TestController(object):
 
     def checkSessionFlash(self, response, msg=None, skip=0, _matcher=lambda msg, m: msg in m):
         if 'flash' not in response.session:
-            pytest.fail(safe_str(u'msg `%s` not found - session has no flash:\n%s' % (msg, response)))
+            pytest.fail(u'msg `%s` not found - session has no flash:\n%s' % (msg, response))
         try:
             level, m = response.session['flash'][-1 - skip]
             if _matcher(msg, m):
                 return
         except IndexError:
             pass
-        pytest.fail(safe_str(u'msg `%s` not found in session flash (skipping %s): %s' %
-                           (msg, skip,
-                            ', '.join('`%s`' % m for level, m in response.session['flash']))))
+        pytest.fail(u'msg `%s` not found in session flash (skipping %s): %s' %
+                    (msg, skip, ', '.join('`%s`' % m for level, m in response.session['flash'])))
 
     def checkSessionFlashRegex(self, response, regex, skip=0):
         self.checkSessionFlash(response, regex, skip=skip, _matcher=re.search)
diff --git a/kallithea/tests/functional/test_admin_repos.py b/kallithea/tests/functional/test_admin_repos.py
--- a/kallithea/tests/functional/test_admin_repos.py
+++ b/kallithea/tests/functional/test_admin_repos.py
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import mock
 import pytest
 
 from kallithea.lib import vcs
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_str
 from kallithea.model.db import Permission, RepoGroup, Repository, Ui, User, UserRepoToPerm
 from kallithea.model.meta import Session
 from kallithea.model.repo import RepoModel
@@ -74,7 +73,7 @@ class _BaseTestCase(base.TestController)
 
         # test if the repository was created on filesystem
         try:
-            vcs.get_repo(safe_str(os.path.join(Ui.get_by_key('paths', '/').ui_value, repo_name)))
+            vcs.get_repo(os.path.join(Ui.get_by_key('paths', '/').ui_value, repo_name))
         except vcs.exceptions.VCSError:
             pytest.fail('no repo %s in filesystem' % repo_name)
 
@@ -149,7 +148,7 @@ class _BaseTestCase(base.TestController)
 
         # test if the repository was created on filesystem
         try:
-            vcs.get_repo(safe_str(os.path.join(Ui.get_by_key('paths', '/').ui_value, repo_name_full)))
+            vcs.get_repo(os.path.join(Ui.get_by_key('paths', '/').ui_value, repo_name_full))
         except vcs.exceptions.VCSError:
             RepoGroupModel().delete(group_name)
             Session().commit()
@@ -241,7 +240,7 @@ class _BaseTestCase(base.TestController)
 
         # test if the repository was created on filesystem
         try:
-            vcs.get_repo(safe_str(os.path.join(Ui.get_by_key('paths', '/').ui_value, repo_name_full)))
+            vcs.get_repo(os.path.join(Ui.get_by_key('paths', '/').ui_value, repo_name_full))
         except vcs.exceptions.VCSError:
             RepoGroupModel().delete(group_name)
             Session().commit()
@@ -298,7 +297,7 @@ class _BaseTestCase(base.TestController)
 
         # test if the repository was created on filesystem
         try:
-            vcs.get_repo(safe_str(os.path.join(Ui.get_by_key('paths', '/').ui_value, repo_name_full)))
+            vcs.get_repo(os.path.join(Ui.get_by_key('paths', '/').ui_value, repo_name_full))
         except vcs.exceptions.VCSError:
             RepoGroupModel().delete(group_name)
             Session().commit()
@@ -373,7 +372,7 @@ class _BaseTestCase(base.TestController)
 
         # test if the repository was created on filesystem
         try:
-            vcs.get_repo(safe_str(os.path.join(Ui.get_by_key('paths', '/').ui_value, repo_name)))
+            vcs.get_repo(os.path.join(Ui.get_by_key('paths', '/').ui_value, repo_name))
         except vcs.exceptions.VCSError:
             pytest.fail('no repo %s in filesystem' % repo_name)
 
@@ -395,7 +394,7 @@ class _BaseTestCase(base.TestController)
     def test_delete_non_ascii(self):
         self.log_user()
         non_ascii = "ąęł"
-        repo_name = "%s%s" % (safe_str(self.NEW_REPO), non_ascii)
+        repo_name = "%s%s" % (self.NEW_REPO, non_ascii)
         description = 'description for newly created repo' + non_ascii
         response = self.app.post(base.url('repos'),
                         fixture._get_repo_create_params(repo_private=False,
diff --git a/kallithea/tests/functional/test_forks.py b/kallithea/tests/functional/test_forks.py
--- a/kallithea/tests/functional/test_forks.py
+++ b/kallithea/tests/functional/test_forks.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 import urllib.parse
 
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_str
 from kallithea.model.db import Repository, User
 from kallithea.model.meta import Session
 from kallithea.model.repo import RepoModel
@@ -144,7 +143,7 @@ class _BaseTestCase(base.TestController)
         # create a fork
         repo_name = self.REPO
         org_repo = Repository.get_by_repo_name(repo_name)
-        fork_name = safe_str(self.REPO_FORK + u'-rødgrød')
+        fork_name = self.REPO_FORK + u'-rødgrød'
         creation_args = {
             'repo_name': fork_name,
             'repo_group': u'-1',
@@ -165,7 +164,7 @@ class _BaseTestCase(base.TestController)
         assert fork_repo
 
         # fork the fork
-        fork_name_2 = safe_str(self.REPO_FORK + u'-blåbærgrød')
+        fork_name_2 = self.REPO_FORK + u'-blåbærgrød'
         creation_args = {
             'repo_name': fork_name_2,
             'repo_group': u'-1',
diff --git a/kallithea/tests/vcs/test_hg.py b/kallithea/tests/vcs/test_hg.py
--- a/kallithea/tests/vcs/test_hg.py
+++ b/kallithea/tests/vcs/test_hg.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import pytest
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.hg import MercurialChangeset, MercurialRepository
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.exceptions import NodeDoesNotExistError, RepositoryError, VCSError
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.nodes import NodeKind, NodeState
-from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import safe_str
 from kallithea.tests.vcs.conf import TEST_HG_REPO, TEST_HG_REPO_CLONE, TEST_HG_REPO_PULL, TESTS_TMP_PATH
 
 
@@ -19,7 +18,7 @@ class TestMercurialRepository(object):
                       % TEST_HG_REPO_CLONE)
 
     def setup_method(self):
-        self.repo = MercurialRepository(safe_str(TEST_HG_REPO))
+        self.repo = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO)
 
     def test_wrong_repo_path(self):
         wrong_repo_path = os.path.join(TESTS_TMP_PATH, 'errorrepo')
@@ -32,7 +31,7 @@ class TestMercurialRepository(object):
 
     def test_repo_clone(self):
         self.__check_for_existing_repo()
-        repo = MercurialRepository(safe_str(TEST_HG_REPO))
+        repo = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO)
         repo_clone = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO_CLONE,
             src_url=TEST_HG_REPO, update_after_clone=True)
         assert len(repo.revisions) == len(repo_clone.revisions)
@@ -42,7 +41,7 @@ class TestMercurialRepository(object):
             assert raw_id == repo_clone.get_changeset(raw_id).raw_id
 
     def test_repo_clone_with_update(self):
-        repo = MercurialRepository(safe_str(TEST_HG_REPO))
+        repo = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO)
         repo_clone = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO_CLONE + '_w_update',
             src_url=TEST_HG_REPO, update_after_clone=True)
         assert len(repo.revisions) == len(repo_clone.revisions)
@@ -55,7 +54,7 @@ class TestMercurialRepository(object):
         )
 
     def test_repo_clone_without_update(self):
-        repo = MercurialRepository(safe_str(TEST_HG_REPO))
+        repo = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO)
         repo_clone = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO_CLONE + '_wo_update',
             src_url=TEST_HG_REPO, update_after_clone=False)
         assert len(repo.revisions) == len(repo_clone.revisions)
@@ -256,7 +255,7 @@ TODO: To be written...
 class TestMercurialChangeset(object):
 
     def setup_method(self):
-        self.repo = MercurialRepository(safe_str(TEST_HG_REPO))
+        self.repo = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO)
 
     def _test_equality(self, changeset):
         revision = changeset.revision
diff --git a/kallithea/tests/vcs/test_vcs.py b/kallithea/tests/vcs/test_vcs.py
--- a/kallithea/tests/vcs/test_vcs.py
+++ b/kallithea/tests/vcs/test_vcs.py
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import pytest
 
 from kallithea.lib.vcs import VCSError, get_backend, get_repo
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.hg import MercurialRepository
-from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils import safe_str
 from kallithea.tests.vcs.conf import TEST_GIT_REPO, TEST_HG_REPO, TESTS_TMP_PATH
 
 
@@ -22,14 +21,14 @@ class TestVCS(object):
         alias = 'hg'
         path = TEST_HG_REPO
         backend = get_backend(alias)
-        repo = backend(safe_str(path))
+        repo = backend(path)
         assert 'hg' == repo.alias
 
     def test_alias_detect_git(self):
         alias = 'git'
         path = TEST_GIT_REPO
         backend = get_backend(alias)
-        repo = backend(safe_str(path))
+        repo = backend(path)
         assert 'git' == repo.alias
 
     def test_wrong_alias(self):
@@ -41,28 +40,28 @@ class TestVCS(object):
         alias = 'hg'
         path = TEST_HG_REPO
         backend = get_backend(alias)
-        repo = backend(safe_str(path))
+        repo = backend(path)
 
-        assert repo.__class__ == get_repo(safe_str(path), alias).__class__
-        assert repo.path == get_repo(safe_str(path), alias).path
+        assert repo.__class__ == get_repo(path, alias).__class__
+        assert repo.path == get_repo(path, alias).path
 
     def test_get_repo_autoalias_hg(self):
         alias = 'hg'
         path = TEST_HG_REPO
         backend = get_backend(alias)
-        repo = backend(safe_str(path))
+        repo = backend(path)
 
-        assert repo.__class__ == get_repo(safe_str(path)).__class__
-        assert repo.path == get_repo(safe_str(path)).path
+        assert repo.__class__ == get_repo(path).__class__
+        assert repo.path == get_repo(path).path
 
     def test_get_repo_autoalias_git(self):
         alias = 'git'
         path = TEST_GIT_REPO
         backend = get_backend(alias)
-        repo = backend(safe_str(path))
+        repo = backend(path)
 
-        assert repo.__class__ == get_repo(safe_str(path)).__class__
-        assert repo.path == get_repo(safe_str(path)).path
+        assert repo.__class__ == get_repo(path).__class__
+        assert repo.path == get_repo(path).path
 
     def test_get_repo_err(self):
         blank_repo_path = os.path.join(TESTS_TMP_PATH, 'blank-error-repo')