diff --git a/etc/scripts/sch2js/sch2js.py b/etc/scripts/sch2js/sch2js.py
index 059e14f259a..683ab2f0d39 100644
--- a/etc/scripts/sch2js/sch2js.py
+++ b/etc/scripts/sch2js/sch2js.py
@@ -39,8 +39,6 @@
 """
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    
-    from six import iteritems
 
     from schematics.types.base import BaseType
     from schematics.types.compound import ListType
@@ -84,7 +82,7 @@ def jsonschema_for_single_field(field_instance):
             field_schema['title'] = field_instance.metadata.get('label', '')
             field_schema['description'] = field_instance.metadata.get('description', '')
 
-        for js_key, schematic_key in iteritems(schema_kwargs_to_schematics):
+        for js_key, schematic_key in schema_kwargs_to_schematics.items():
             value = getattr(field_instance, schematic_key, None)
             if value is not None:
                 field_schema[js_key] = value
@@ -98,7 +96,7 @@ def jsonschema_for_fields(model):
         """
         properties = {}
         required = []
-        for field_name, field_instance in iteritems(model.fields):
+        for field_name, field_instance in model.fields.items():
             serialized_name = getattr(field_instance, 'serialized_name', None) or field_name
 
             if isinstance(field_instance, ModelType):
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 737a787c74c..6d3070e95ed 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -90,7 +90,6 @@ def read(*names, **kwargs):
         # textcode
         'Beautifulsoup4 >= 4.0.0, <5.0.0',
         'html5lib',
-        'six',
         'pdfminer.six >= 20170720',
         'pycryptodome >= 3.4',
         'chardet >= 3.0.0, <4.0.0',
diff --git a/src/cluecode/copyrights.py b/src/cluecode/copyrights.py
index 972d6396825..3574916b71d 100644
--- a/src/cluecode/copyrights.py
+++ b/src/cluecode/copyrights.py
@@ -31,8 +31,6 @@
 import sys
 from time import time
 
-from six import string_types
-
 from cluecode import copyrights_hint
 from commoncode.text import toascii
 from commoncode.text import unixlinesep
@@ -60,7 +58,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 """
diff --git a/src/cluecode/finder.py b/src/cluecode/finder.py
index 97adae92110..be38aa0162d 100644
--- a/src/cluecode/finder.py
+++ b/src/cluecode/finder.py
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 import re
 
 import ipaddress
-from six import string_types
 import urlpy
 
 from commoncode.text import toascii
@@ -55,7 +54,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 """
diff --git a/src/cluecode/plugin_filter_clues.py b/src/cluecode/plugin_filter_clues.py
index e51545dedef..f920395dc0d 100644
--- a/src/cluecode/plugin_filter_clues.py
+++ b/src/cluecode/plugin_filter_clues.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 from itertools import chain
 
 import attr
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode.cliutils import PluggableCommandLineOption
 from commoncode.cliutils import POST_SCAN_GROUP
@@ -49,7 +48,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 @post_scan_impl
diff --git a/src/cluecode/plugin_ignore_copyrights.py b/src/cluecode/plugin_ignore_copyrights.py
index a660e847171..96cb26e3f37 100644
--- a/src/cluecode/plugin_ignore_copyrights.py
+++ b/src/cluecode/plugin_ignore_copyrights.py
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 
 import re
 
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode.cliutils import PluggableCommandLineOption
 from commoncode.cliutils import OUTPUT_FILTER_GROUP
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 @output_filter_impl
diff --git a/src/formattedcode/output_csv.py b/src/formattedcode/output_csv.py
index 8ed7291f732..a8eee84a3fd 100644
--- a/src/formattedcode/output_csv.py
+++ b/src/formattedcode/output_csv.py
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 
 
 import saneyaml
-from six import string_types
 import unicodecsv
 
 from formattedcode import FileOptionType
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types)
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str)
                                      and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
@@ -229,7 +228,7 @@ def pretty(data):
     maptypes = dict, dict
     coltypes = seqtypes + maptypes
     if isinstance(data, seqtypes):
-        if len(data) == 1 and isinstance(data[0], string_types):
+        if len(data) == 1 and isinstance(data[0], str):
             return data[0].strip()
     if isinstance(data, coltypes):
         return saneyaml.dump(
diff --git a/src/formattedcode/output_json.py b/src/formattedcode/output_json.py
index 388949740e2..bf445653300 100644
--- a/src/formattedcode/output_json.py
+++ b/src/formattedcode/output_json.py
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 
 
 import jsonstreams
-from six import string_types
 
 from formattedcode import FileOptionType
 from commoncode.cliutils import PluggableCommandLineOption
@@ -55,7 +54,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types)
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str)
                                      and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
@@ -113,7 +112,7 @@ def write_results(codebase, output_file, pretty=False, **kwargs):
 
     # If `output_file` is a path string, open the file at path `output_file` and use it as `output_file`
     close_fd = False
-    if isinstance(output_file, string_types):
+    if isinstance(output_file, str):
         output_file = open(output_file, 'w')
         close_fd = True
 
diff --git a/src/formattedcode/output_spdx.py b/src/formattedcode/output_spdx.py
index 19dd3dedfb7..7a4149c9362 100644
--- a/src/formattedcode/output_spdx.py
+++ b/src/formattedcode/output_spdx.py
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@
 except ImportError:
     from io import StringIO
 
-from six import string_types
 from spdx.checksum import Algorithm
 from spdx.creationinfo import Tool
 from spdx.document import Document
@@ -71,7 +70,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types)
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str)
                                      and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 """
diff --git a/src/licensedcode/cache.py b/src/licensedcode/cache.py
index dcd4bea6aeb..7d73259910e 100644
--- a/src/licensedcode/cache.py
+++ b/src/licensedcode/cache.py
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@
 from os.path import join
 import sys
 
-import six
 import yg.lockfile  # NOQA
 
 from commoncode.fileutils import resource_iter
diff --git a/src/licensedcode/index.py b/src/licensedcode/index.py
index cda395655aa..e93d1ca206a 100644
--- a/src/licensedcode/index.py
+++ b/src/licensedcode/index.py
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@
 from time import time
 
 from intbitset import intbitset
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode.dict_utils import sparsify
 from licensedcode import MAX_DIST
@@ -91,7 +90,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a)
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a)
                                      for a in args))
 
 
diff --git a/src/licensedcode/match.py b/src/licensedcode/match.py
index edd45d5e469..b940a89cb50 100644
--- a/src/licensedcode/match.py
+++ b/src/licensedcode/match.py
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 from itertools import groupby
 
 import attr
-from six import string_types
 
 from licensedcode import MAX_DIST
 from licensedcode import query
@@ -86,7 +85,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args): pass
     logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
     logging.basicConfig(stream=sys.stdout)
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
diff --git a/src/licensedcode/match_aho.py b/src/licensedcode/match_aho.py
index e58b365b879..a2e0eb10ae1 100644
--- a/src/licensedcode/match_aho.py
+++ b/src/licensedcode/match_aho.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 from itertools import groupby
 
 import ahocorasick
-from six import string_types
 
 from licensedcode import SMALL_RULE
 from licensedcode.match import LicenseMatch
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@
     logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
     logging.basicConfig(stream=sys.stdout)
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
diff --git a/src/licensedcode/match_hash.py b/src/licensedcode/match_hash.py
index aaae2bca141..d062d5791db 100644
--- a/src/licensedcode/match_hash.py
+++ b/src/licensedcode/match_hash.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 from array import array
 from hashlib import md5
 
-from six import string_types
 
 from licensedcode.match import LicenseMatch
 from licensedcode.spans import Span
@@ -45,7 +44,7 @@
     logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
     # logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG, stream=sys.stdout)
     logging.basicConfig(stream=sys.stdout)
diff --git a/src/licensedcode/match_seq.py b/src/licensedcode/match_seq.py
index e2083a74ba8..265ac384e7a 100644
--- a/src/licensedcode/match_seq.py
+++ b/src/licensedcode/match_seq.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 from time import time
 import sys
 
-from six import string_types
 
 from licensedcode.match import LicenseMatch
 from licensedcode.spans import Span
@@ -46,7 +45,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args): pass
     logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
     logging.basicConfig(stream=sys.stdout)
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
diff --git a/src/licensedcode/match_set.py b/src/licensedcode/match_set.py
index 7bb2c9f5523..90c418465d7 100644
--- a/src/licensedcode/match_set.py
+++ b/src/licensedcode/match_set.py
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@
 from itertools import groupby
 
 from intbitset import intbitset
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode.dict_utils import sparsify
 from licensedcode.tokenize import ngrams
@@ -122,7 +121,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args): pass
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 def tids_sets_intersector(qset, iset):
diff --git a/src/licensedcode/match_spdx_lid.py b/src/licensedcode/match_spdx_lid.py
index 8602ede11e0..72b74a42d79 100644
--- a/src/licensedcode/match_spdx_lid.py
+++ b/src/licensedcode/match_spdx_lid.py
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
 from license_expression import LicenseSymbol
 from license_expression import LicenseWithExceptionSymbol
 from license_expression import Licensing
-from six import string_types
 
 from licensedcode.match import LicenseMatch
 from licensedcode.models import SpdxRule
@@ -70,7 +69,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 MATCH_SPDX_ID = '1-spdx-id'
diff --git a/src/licensedcode/plugin_license_text.py b/src/licensedcode/plugin_license_text.py
index 257a33938f9..dc656ae2831 100644
--- a/src/licensedcode/plugin_license_text.py
+++ b/src/licensedcode/plugin_license_text.py
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
 
 
 import attr
-from six import string_types
 
 from plugincode.post_scan import PostScanPlugin
 from plugincode.post_scan import post_scan_impl
@@ -42,7 +41,7 @@
     logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
     logging.basicConfig(stream=sys.stdout)
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
diff --git a/src/licensedcode/query.py b/src/licensedcode/query.py
index 063d0b43c34..a38b2ff6ebf 100644
--- a/src/licensedcode/query.py
+++ b/src/licensedcode/query.py
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@
 import re
 
 from intbitset import intbitset
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode.text import toascii
 from licensedcode.spans import Span
@@ -102,7 +101,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 # for the cases of very long lines, we break in abritrary pseudo lines at 25
 # tokens to avoid getting huge query runs for texts on a single line (e.g.
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/about.py b/src/packagedcode/about.py
index 75d34882101..24d973b4888 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/about.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/about.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 
 import attr
 import saneyaml
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode import filetype
 from packagedcode import models
@@ -102,7 +101,7 @@ def build_package(package_data):
     copyright_statement = package_data.get('copyright')
 
     owner = package_data.get('owner')
-    if not isinstance(owner, string_types):
+    if not isinstance(owner, str):
         owner = repr(owner)
     parties = [models.Party(type=models.party_person, name=owner, role='owner')]
 
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/bower.py b/src/packagedcode/bower.py
index e1dfbed90f3..4e084e30521 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/bower.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/bower.py
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@
 
 import attr
 from packageurl import PackageURL
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode import filetype
 from commoncode import ignore
@@ -96,7 +95,7 @@ def build_package(package_data):
     version = package_data.get('version')
     declared_license = package_data.get('license')
     if declared_license:
-        if isinstance(declared_license, string_types):
+        if isinstance(declared_license, str):
             declared_license = [declared_license]
         elif isinstance(declared_license, (list, tuple)):
             declared_license = [l for l in declared_license if l and l.strip()]
@@ -115,7 +114,7 @@ def build_package(package_data):
             url = author.get('homepage')
             party = models.Party(name=name, role='author', email=email, url=url)
             parties.append(party)
-        elif isinstance(author, string_types):
+        elif isinstance(author, str):
             parties.append(models.Party(name=author, role='author'))
         else:
             parties.append(models.Party(name=repr(author), role='author'))
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/conda.py b/src/packagedcode/conda.py
index 731a93cb1f0..a8c8afdbf07 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/conda.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/conda.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 import sys
 
 import attr
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode import filetype
 from commoncode import fileutils
@@ -57,7 +56,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 @attr.s()
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/debian.py b/src/packagedcode/debian.py
index b1ae49021e5..400bc72a911 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/debian.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/debian.py
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@
 import attr
 from debut import debcon
 from packageurl import PackageURL
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode import filetype
 from commoncode import fileutils
@@ -261,7 +260,7 @@ def build_package(package_data, distro='debian'):
     for source, target in plain_fields:
         value = package_data.get(source)
         if value:
-            if isinstance(value, string_types):
+            if isinstance(value, str):
                 value = value.strip()
             if value:
                 setattr(package, target, value)
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/freebsd.py b/src/packagedcode/freebsd.py
index 8dbcc4b0e3d..f0f037bbfe2 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/freebsd.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/freebsd.py
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 import logging
 
 import attr
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode import filetype
 from commoncode import fileutils
@@ -140,7 +139,7 @@ def build_package(package_data):
     for source, target in plain_fields:
         value = package_data.get(source)
         if value:
-            if isinstance(value, string_types):
+            if isinstance(value, str):
                 value = value.strip()
             if value:
                 setattr(package, target, value)
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/gemfile_lock.py b/src/packagedcode/gemfile_lock.py
index acfd480fd6c..6de4fe2b442 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/gemfile_lock.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/gemfile_lock.py
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@
 import re
 
 import attr
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode.datautils import choices
 from commoncode.datautils import Boolean
@@ -119,7 +118,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 # Section headings: these are also used as switches to track a parsing state
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/godeps.py b/src/packagedcode/godeps.py
index 0abfb7dfddc..17cc00daa59 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/godeps.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/godeps.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 import json
 import logging
 
-from six import string_types
 
 """
 Handle Godeps-like Go package dependency data.
@@ -53,7 +52,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 class Dep(namedtuple('Dep', 'import_path revision comment')):
@@ -118,7 +117,7 @@ def load(self, location):
         Load self from a location string or a file-like object
         containing a Godeps JSON.
         """
-        if isinstance(location, string_types):
+        if isinstance(location, str):
             with io.open(location, encoding='utf-8') as godep:
                 data = json.load(godep)
         else:
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/licensing.py b/src/packagedcode/licensing.py
index 2bbf0dc4059..786549f67d2 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/licensing.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/licensing.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 import logging
 
 from license_expression import Licensing
-from six import string_types
 
 from licensedcode.spans import Span
 
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a)
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a)
                                      for a in args))
 
 
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/models.py b/src/packagedcode/models.py
index 6c0a5f98bec..cf4a98efba6 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/models.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/models.py
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@
 import attr
 from packageurl import normalize_qualifiers
 from packageurl import PackageURL
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode.datautils import choices
 from commoncode.datautils import Boolean
@@ -84,7 +83,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 class BaseModel(object):
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/npm.py b/src/packagedcode/npm.py
index 386a5b867e6..13b14f7cdee 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/npm.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/npm.py
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 #  ScanCode is a free software code scanning tool from nexB Inc. and others.
 #  Visit https://github.com/nexB/scancode-toolkit/ for support and download.
 
-
 import base64
 from collections import defaultdict
 from functools import partial
@@ -33,17 +32,13 @@
 
 import attr
 from packageurl import PackageURL
-from six import string_types
-from six import binary_type
 
 from commoncode import filetype
 from commoncode import fileutils
-from commoncode import ignore
 from packagedcode import models
 from packagedcode.utils import combine_expressions
 from packagedcode.utils import parse_repo_url
 
-
 """
 Handle Node.js npm packages
 per https://docs.npmjs.com/files/package.json
@@ -120,7 +115,7 @@ def compute_normalized_license(declared_license):
     detected_licenses = []
 
     for declared in declared_license:
-        if isinstance(declared, string_types):
+        if isinstance(declared, str):
             detected_license = models.compute_normalized_license(declared)
             if detected_license:
                 detected_licenses.append(detected_license)
@@ -321,7 +316,7 @@ def build_package(package_data):
         if TRACE: logger.debug('parse: %(source)r, %(func)r' % locals())
         value = package_data.get(source) or None
         if value:
-            if isinstance(value, string_types):
+            if isinstance(value, str):
                 value = value.strip()
             if value:
                 func(value, package)
@@ -415,7 +410,7 @@ def get_declared_licenses(license_object):
     if not license_object:
         return []
 
-    if isinstance(license_object, string_types):
+    if isinstance(license_object, str):
         # current, up to date form
         return [license_object]
 
@@ -503,7 +498,7 @@ def bugs_mapper(bugs, package):
     url, you can specify the value for "bugs" as a simple string instead of an
     object.
     """
-    if isinstance(bugs, string_types):
+    if isinstance(bugs, str):
         package.bug_tracking_url = bugs
     elif isinstance(bugs, dict):
         # we ignore the bugs email for now
@@ -533,7 +528,7 @@ def vcs_repository_mapper(repo, package, vcs_revision=None):
     vcs_tool = ''
     vcs_repository = ''
 
-    if isinstance(repo, string_types):
+    if isinstance(repo, str):
         vcs_repository = parse_repo_url(repo)
 
     elif isinstance(repo, dict):
@@ -577,12 +572,11 @@ def dist_mapper(dist, package):
         assert 'sha512' == algo
 
         decoded_b64value = base64.b64decode(b64value)
-        if isinstance(decoded_b64value, string_types):
+        if isinstance(decoded_b64value, str):
             sha512 = decoded_b64value.encode('hex')
-        elif isinstance(decoded_b64value, binary_type):
+        elif isinstance(decoded_b64value, bytes):
             sha512 = decoded_b64value.hex()
         package.sha512 = sha512
-        
 
     sha1 = dist.get('shasum')
     if sha1:
@@ -743,7 +737,7 @@ def parse_person(person):
     email = None
     url = None
 
-    if isinstance(person, string_types):
+    if isinstance(person, str):
         parsed = person_parser(person)
         if not parsed:
             parsed = person_parser_no_name(person)
@@ -768,7 +762,7 @@ def parse_person(person):
         return None, None, None
 
     if name:
-        if isinstance(name, string_types):
+        if isinstance(name, str):
             name = name.strip()
             if name.lower() == 'none':
                 name = None
@@ -782,7 +776,7 @@ def parse_person(person):
             email = [e.strip('<> ') for e in email if e and e.strip()]
             email = '\n'.join([e.strip() for e in email
                                if e.strip() and e.strip().lower() != 'none'])
-        if isinstance(email, string_types):
+        if isinstance(email, str):
             email = email.strip('<> ').strip()
             if email.lower() == 'none':
                 email = None
@@ -796,7 +790,7 @@ def parse_person(person):
             url = [u.strip('() ') for u in email if u and u.strip()]
             url = '\n'.join([u.strip() for u in url
                                if u.strip() and u.strip().lower() != 'none'])
-        if isinstance(url, string_types):
+        if isinstance(url, str):
             url = url.strip('() ').strip()
             if url.lower() == 'none':
                 url = None
@@ -813,7 +807,7 @@ def keywords_mapper(keywords, package):
     This is supposed to be an array of strings, but sometimes this is a string.
     https://docs.npmjs.com/files/package.json#keywords
     """
-    if isinstance(keywords, string_types):
+    if isinstance(keywords, str):
         if ',' in keywords:
             keywords = [k.strip() for k in keywords.split(',') if k.strip()]
         else:
@@ -941,7 +935,6 @@ def build_packages_from_yarn_lock(yarn_lock_lines):
     packages = []
     packages_reqs = []
     current_package_data = {}
-    prev_line = None
     dependencies = False
     for line in yarn_lock_lines:
         # Check if this is not an empty line or comment
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/nuget.py b/src/packagedcode/nuget.py
index 02bdc85c059..1a8afeddf36 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/nuget.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/nuget.py
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
 
 
 import attr
-from six import string_types
 import xmltodict
 
 from packagedcode import models
@@ -54,7 +53,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 @attr.s()
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/phpcomposer.py b/src/packagedcode/phpcomposer.py
index 0f7b9736fb8..870bb335cd9 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/phpcomposer.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/phpcomposer.py
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@
 
 import attr
 from packageurl import PackageURL
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode import filetype
 from commoncode import fileutils
@@ -61,7 +60,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 @attr.s()
@@ -116,7 +115,7 @@ def compute_normalized_license(declared_license):
 
     detected_licenses = []
 
-    if isinstance(declared_license, string_types):
+    if isinstance(declared_license, str):
         if declared_license == 'proprietary':
             return declared_license
         if '(' in declared_license and ')' in declared_license and ' or ' in declared_license:
@@ -200,7 +199,7 @@ def build_package_from_json(package_data):
 
     for source, target in plain_fields:
         value = package_data.get(source)
-        if isinstance(value, string_types):
+        if isinstance(value, str):
             value = value.strip()
             if value:
                 setattr(package, target, value)
@@ -226,7 +225,7 @@ def build_package_from_json(package_data):
         logger.debug('parse: %(source)r, %(func)r' % locals())
         value = package_data.get(source)
         if value:
-            if isinstance(value, string_types):
+            if isinstance(value, str):
                 value = value.strip()
             if value:
                 func(value, package)
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/pypi.py b/src/packagedcode/pypi.py
index 862eb99744d..d968f1f4432 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/pypi.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/pypi.py
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@
 from pkginfo import Wheel
 from packageurl import PackageURL
 import saneyaml
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode import filetype
 from commoncode import fileutils
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 # FIXME: this whole module is a mess
 
@@ -775,7 +774,7 @@ def compute_normalized_license(declared_license):
         if not value:
             continue
         # The value could be a string or a list
-        if isinstance(value, string_types):
+        if isinstance(value, str):
             detected_license = models.compute_normalized_license(value)
             if detected_license:
                 detected_licenses.append(detected_license)
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/recognize.py b/src/packagedcode/recognize.py
index 1e4e7c116dc..e56e9855a61 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/recognize.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/recognize.py
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 import logging
 import sys
 
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode import filetype
 from commoncode.fileutils import file_name
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types)
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str)
                                      and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 """
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/rpm.py b/src/packagedcode/rpm.py
index 609a9ebb27b..c573c6e0dff 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/rpm.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/rpm.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 import sys
 
 import attr
-from six import string_types
 
 from packagedcode import models
 from packagedcode import nevra
@@ -51,7 +50,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 # TODO: retrieve dependencies
 
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/rubygems.py b/src/packagedcode/rubygems.py
index 75bca9303b3..def3c820f23 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/rubygems.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/rubygems.py
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@
 import attr
 import saneyaml
 from packageurl import PackageURL
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode import archive
 from commoncode import fileutils
@@ -63,7 +62,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
         return logger.debug(' '.join(
-            isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+            isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 @attr.s()
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/utils.py b/src/packagedcode/utils.py
index dcba940d0b1..1eadcdf06c4 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/utils.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/utils.py
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 
 
 from license_expression import Licensing
-from six import string_types
 
 
 PLAIN_URLS = (
@@ -81,7 +80,7 @@ def normalize_vcs_url(repo_url, vcs_tool=None):
         https://gitlab.com/foo/private.git
         git@gitlab.com:foo/private.git
     """
-    if not repo_url or not isinstance(repo_url, string_types):
+    if not repo_url or not isinstance(repo_url, str):
         return
 
     repo_url = repo_url.strip()
diff --git a/src/packagedcode/win_pe.py b/src/packagedcode/win_pe.py
index b83897d6942..d5859c80f4c 100644
--- a/src/packagedcode/win_pe.py
+++ b/src/packagedcode/win_pe.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 import attr
 from ftfy import fix_text
 import pefile
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode import filetype
 from commoncode import text
@@ -55,7 +54,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
         return logger.debug(' '.join(
-            isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+            isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 """
 Extract data from windows PE DLLs and executable.
diff --git a/src/scancode/__init__.py b/src/scancode/__init__.py
index 8224e90aee9..2e414731028 100644
--- a/src/scancode/__init__.py
+++ b/src/scancode/__init__.py
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@
 
 import click
 from click.types import BoolParamType
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode import fileutils
 
@@ -49,7 +48,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types)
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str)
                                      and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
diff --git a/src/scancode/cli.py b/src/scancode/cli.py
index 845dea93ae2..6b394475bed 100644
--- a/src/scancode/cli.py
+++ b/src/scancode/cli.py
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ class WindowsError(Exception):
 import click  # NOQA
 click.disable_unicode_literals_warning = True
 
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode import cliutils
 from commoncode.cliutils import GroupedHelpCommand
@@ -98,7 +97,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types)
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str)
                                      and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 echo_stderr = partial(click.secho, err=True)
@@ -1504,7 +1503,7 @@ def get_pretty_params(ctx, generic_paths=False):
 
         # coerce to string for non-basic supported types
         if not (value in (True, False, None)
-            or isinstance(value, (str, string_types, bytes, tuple, list, dict, dict))):
+            or isinstance(value, (str, str, bytes, tuple, list, dict, dict))):
             value = repr(value)
 
         # opts is a list of CLI options as in "--strip-root": the last opt is
diff --git a/src/summarycode/classify.py b/src/summarycode/classify.py
index 66706fde12c..8a7ec7b120f 100644
--- a/src/summarycode/classify.py
+++ b/src/summarycode/classify.py
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
 
 
 
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode.datautils import Boolean
 from commoncode.fileset import get_matches
@@ -68,7 +67,7 @@ def emit(self, record):
 
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 @pre_scan_impl
diff --git a/src/summarycode/copyright_summary.py b/src/summarycode/copyright_summary.py
index 9066809fda2..95920c6e0a0 100644
--- a/src/summarycode/copyright_summary.py
+++ b/src/summarycode/copyright_summary.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 
 import attr
 import fingerprints
-from six import string_types
 from text_unidecode import unidecode
 
 from cluecode.copyrights import CopyrightDetector
@@ -59,7 +58,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 # TODO: keep the original order of statements as much as possible
 
diff --git a/src/summarycode/facet.py b/src/summarycode/facet.py
index a8f2525df2d..d80824caf0b 100644
--- a/src/summarycode/facet.py
+++ b/src/summarycode/facet.py
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 
 import attr
 import click
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode.fileset import get_matches as get_fileset_matches
 from plugincode.pre_scan import PreScanPlugin
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 """
 Assign a facet to a file.
diff --git a/src/summarycode/generated.py b/src/summarycode/generated.py
index c82461e7626..0f212869a6e 100644
--- a/src/summarycode/generated.py
+++ b/src/summarycode/generated.py
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 
 from itertools import islice
 
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode.datautils import Boolean
 from commoncode.text import toascii
@@ -56,7 +55,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 @scan_impl
diff --git a/src/summarycode/score.py b/src/summarycode/score.py
index eda7ee06671..bea12f5ad59 100644
--- a/src/summarycode/score.py
+++ b/src/summarycode/score.py
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 
 import attr
 from license_expression import Licensing
-from six import string_types
 
 from commoncode.datautils import Mapping
 from licensedcode.cache import get_licenses_db
@@ -56,7 +55,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 """
 A plugin to compute a licensing clarity score as designed in ClearlyDefined
diff --git a/src/summarycode/summarizer.py b/src/summarycode/summarizer.py
index c6725280e05..9f8c9ed5af9 100644
--- a/src/summarycode/summarizer.py
+++ b/src/summarycode/summarizer.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 from collections import Counter
 
 import attr
-from six import string_types
 
 from plugincode.post_scan import PostScanPlugin
 from plugincode.post_scan import post_scan_impl
@@ -55,7 +54,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 """
 top_level:
diff --git a/src/textcode/analysis.py b/src/textcode/analysis.py
index c4802307fa9..6021044a01b 100644
--- a/src/textcode/analysis.py
+++ b/src/textcode/analysis.py
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@
 import unicodedata
 
 import chardet
-from six import string_types
 
 from textcode import pdf
 from textcode import markup
@@ -62,7 +61,7 @@ def logger_debug(*args):
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
     def logger_debug(*args):
-        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, string_types) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
+        return logger.debug(' '.join(isinstance(a, str) and a or repr(a) for a in args))
 
 
 def numbered_text_lines(location, demarkup=False, plain_text=False):
@@ -85,7 +84,7 @@ def numbered_text_lines(location, demarkup=False, plain_text=False):
     if not location:
         return iter([])
 
-    if not isinstance(location, string_types):
+    if not isinstance(location, str):
         # not a path: wrap an iterator on location which should be a sequence
         # of lines
         if TRACE: