diff --git a/applications/admin/controllers/default.py b/applications/admin/controllers/default.py
index 359a5bc8..6c46d971 100644
--- a/applications/admin/controllers/default.py
+++ b/applications/admin/controllers/default.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ from gluon.utils import web2py_uuid
 from gluon.tools import Config
 from gluon.compileapp import find_exposed_functions
 from glob import glob
-from gluon._compat import iteritems, PY2, pickle, xrange, urlopen, to_bytes
+from gluon._compat import iteritems, PY2, pickle, xrange, urlopen, to_bytes, StringIO, to_native
 import shutil
 import platform
 
@@ -382,7 +382,6 @@ def pack_plugin():
 def pack_exe(app, base, filenames=None):
     import urllib
     import zipfile
-    from cStringIO import StringIO
     # Download latest web2py_win and open it with zipfile
     download_url = 'http://www.web2py.com/examples/static/web2py_win.zip'
     out = StringIO()
@@ -1742,9 +1741,9 @@ def make_link(path):
         for key in editable.keys():
             check_extension = folder.endswith("%s/%s" % (app, key))
             if ext.lower() == editable[key] and check_extension:
-                return A('"' + tryFile + '"',
-                         _href=URL(r=request,
-                                   f='edit/%s/%s/%s' % (app, key, filename))).xml()
+                return to_native(A('"' + tryFile + '"',
+                                   _href=URL(r=request,
+                                   f='edit/%s/%s/%s' % (app, key, filename))).xml())
     return ''
 
 
diff --git a/applications/admin/controllers/pythonanywhere.py b/applications/admin/controllers/pythonanywhere.py
index e10e4020..33dfda6f 100644
--- a/applications/admin/controllers/pythonanywhere.py
+++ b/applications/admin/controllers/pythonanywhere.py
@@ -4,10 +4,7 @@ import os
 import re
 import gzip
 import tarfile
-try:
-    from cStringIO import StringIO
-except ImportError:
-    from StringIO import StringIO
+from gluon._compat import StringIO
 from xmlrpclib import ProtocolError
 from gluon.contrib.simplejsonrpc import ServerProxy
 
diff --git a/applications/admin/controllers/shell.py b/applications/admin/controllers/shell.py
index 3a835c7d..e25bbdd6 100644
--- a/applications/admin/controllers/shell.py
+++ b/applications/admin/controllers/shell.py
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 import sys
-import cStringIO
 import gluon.contrib.shell
 import code
 import thread
 import cgi
 from gluon.shell import env
+from gluon._compat import StringIO
 
 if DEMO_MODE or MULTI_USER_MODE:
     session.flash = T('disabled in demo mode')
diff --git a/applications/admin/controllers/webservices.py b/applications/admin/controllers/webservices.py
index eb760df2..4f5a352c 100644
--- a/applications/admin/controllers/webservices.py
+++ b/applications/admin/controllers/webservices.py
@@ -7,15 +7,11 @@ import platform
 import time
 import base64
 import os
-try:
-    from cStringIO import StringIO
-except ImportError:
-    from StringIO import StringIO
+from gluon._compat import StringIO
 
 
 service = Service(globals())
 
-
 @service.jsonrpc
 def login():
     "dummy function to test credentials"
diff --git a/applications/examples/models/markmin.py b/applications/examples/models/markmin.py
index 0370df95..11f9f2ae 100644
--- a/applications/examples/models/markmin.py
+++ b/applications/examples/models/markmin.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import gluon.template
+from gluon.fileutils import open_file
 
 markmin_dict = dict(
     code_python=lambda code: str(CODE(code)),
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ def get_content(b=None,
         import os
         path = os.path.join(
             request.folder, 'private', 'content', l, c, f, b + '.' + format)
-        return open(path)
+        return open_file(path, mode='r')
 
     try:
         openedfile = openfile()
diff --git a/gluon/contrib/imageutils.py b/gluon/contrib/imageutils.py
index ef7343f0..28cf10e0 100644
--- a/gluon/contrib/imageutils.py
+++ b/gluon/contrib/imageutils.py
@@ -36,11 +36,11 @@ class RESIZE(object):
         if isinstance(value, str) and len(value) == 0:
             return (value, None)
         from PIL import Image
-        import cStringIO
+        from io import BytesIO
         try:
             img = Image.open(value.file)
             img.thumbnail((self.nx, self.ny), Image.ANTIALIAS)
-            s = cStringIO.StringIO()
+            s = BytesIO()
             if self.padding:
                 background = Image.new('RGBA', (self.nx, self.ny), (255, 255, 255, 0))
                 background.paste(
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class RESIZE(object):
                     ((self.nx - img.size[0]) / 2, (self.ny - img.size[1]) / 2))
                 background.save(s, 'JPEG', quality=self.quality)
             else:
-                img.save(s, 'JPEG', queality=self.quality)
+                img.save(s, 'JPEG', quality=self.quality)
             s.seek(0)
             value.file = s
         except:
diff --git a/gluon/restricted.py b/gluon/restricted.py
index 278b3a47..c67bcbf4 100644
--- a/gluon/restricted.py
+++ b/gluon/restricted.py
@@ -199,11 +199,7 @@ class RestrictedError(Exception):
 
 
 def compile2(code, layer):
-    """
-    The ``+'\\n'`` is necessary else compile fails when code ends in a comment.
-    """
-
-    return compile(code.rstrip().replace('\r\n', '\n') + '\n', layer, 'exec')
+    return compile(code.rstrip(), layer, 'exec')
 
 
 def restricted(code, environment=None, layer='Unknown'):