diff --git a/dev/create-release/releaseutils.py b/dev/create-release/releaseutils.py
index ab812e1bb7c0..8cc990d87184 100755
--- a/dev/create-release/releaseutils.py
+++ b/dev/create-release/releaseutils.py
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
     sys.exit(-1)
 
 if sys.version < '3':
-    input = raw_input
+    input = raw_input  # noqa
 
 # Contributors list file name
 contributors_file_name = "contributors.txt"
@@ -152,7 +152,11 @@ def get_commits(tag):
             if not is_valid_author(author):
                 author = github_username
         # Guard against special characters
-        author = unidecode.unidecode(unicode(author, "UTF-8")).strip()
+        try:               # Python 2
+            author = unicode(author, "UTF-8")
+        except NameError:  # Python 3
+            author = str(author)
+        author = unidecode.unidecode(author).strip()
         commit = Commit(_hash, author, title, pr_number)
         commits.append(commit)
     return commits
diff --git a/dev/merge_spark_pr.py b/dev/merge_spark_pr.py
index fe05282efdd4..28a6714856c1 100755
--- a/dev/merge_spark_pr.py
+++ b/dev/merge_spark_pr.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
     JIRA_IMPORTED = False
 
 if sys.version < '3':
-    input = raw_input
+    input = raw_input  # noqa
 
 # Location of your Spark git development area
 SPARK_HOME = os.environ.get("SPARK_HOME", os.getcwd())
diff --git a/python/pyspark/sql/conf.py b/python/pyspark/sql/conf.py
index f80bf598c221..71ea1631718f 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/sql/conf.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/sql/conf.py
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@
 from pyspark import since, _NoValue
 from pyspark.rdd import ignore_unicode_prefix
 
+if sys.version_info[0] >= 3:
+    basestring = str
+
 
 class RuntimeConfig(object):
     """User-facing configuration API, accessible through `SparkSession.conf`.
@@ -59,7 +62,7 @@ def unset(self, key):
 
     def _checkType(self, obj, identifier):
         """Assert that an object is of type str."""
-        if not isinstance(obj, str) and not isinstance(obj, unicode):
+        if not isinstance(obj, basestring):
             raise TypeError("expected %s '%s' to be a string (was '%s')" %
                             (identifier, obj, type(obj).__name__))
 
diff --git a/python/pyspark/sql/streaming.py b/python/pyspark/sql/streaming.py
index 8c1fd4af674d..ee13778a7dcd 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/sql/streaming.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/sql/streaming.py
@@ -19,10 +19,7 @@
 import json
 
 if sys.version >= '3':
-    intlike = int
-    basestring = unicode = str
-else:
-    intlike = (int, long)
+    basestring = str
 
 from py4j.java_gateway import java_import
 
diff --git a/python/pyspark/streaming/dstream.py b/python/pyspark/streaming/dstream.py
index 59977dcb435a..ce42a857d0c0 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/streaming/dstream.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/streaming/dstream.py
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 
 if sys.version < "3":
     from itertools import imap as map, ifilter as filter
+else:
+    long = int
 
 from py4j.protocol import Py4JJavaError
 
diff --git a/python/pyspark/streaming/tests.py b/python/pyspark/streaming/tests.py
index 09af47a597be..5cef621a28e6 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/streaming/tests.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/streaming/tests.py
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ def func(dstream):
         self._test_func(input, func, expected)
 
     def test_flatMap(self):
-        """Basic operation test for DStream.faltMap."""
+        """Basic operation test for DStream.flatMap."""
         input = [range(1, 5), range(5, 9), range(9, 13)]
 
         def func(dstream):
@@ -206,6 +206,38 @@ def func(dstream):
         expected = [[len(x)] for x in input]
         self._test_func(input, func, expected)
 
+    def test_slice(self):
+        """Basic operation test for DStream.slice."""
+        import datetime as dt
+        self.ssc = StreamingContext(self.sc, 1.0)
+        self.ssc.remember(4.0)
+        input = [[1], [2], [3], [4]]
+        stream = self.ssc.queueStream([self.sc.parallelize(d, 1) for d in input])
+
+        time_vals = []
+
+        def get_times(t, rdd):
+            if rdd and len(time_vals) < len(input):
+                time_vals.append(t)
+
+        stream.foreachRDD(get_times)
+
+        self.ssc.start()
+        self.wait_for(time_vals, 4)
+        begin_time = time_vals[0]
+
+        def get_sliced(begin_delta, end_delta):
+            begin = begin_time + dt.timedelta(seconds=begin_delta)
+            end = begin_time + dt.timedelta(seconds=end_delta)
+            rdds = stream.slice(begin, end)
+            result_list = [rdd.collect() for rdd in rdds]
+            return [r for result in result_list for r in result]
+
+        self.assertEqual(set([1]), set(get_sliced(0, 0)))
+        self.assertEqual(set([2, 3]), set(get_sliced(1, 2)))
+        self.assertEqual(set([2, 3, 4]), set(get_sliced(1, 4)))
+        self.assertEqual(set([1, 2, 3, 4]), set(get_sliced(0, 4)))
+
     def test_reduce(self):
         """Basic operation test for DStream.reduce."""
         input = [range(1, 5), range(5, 9), range(9, 13)]
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/test/resources/data/scripts/dumpdata_script.py b/sql/hive/src/test/resources/data/scripts/dumpdata_script.py
index 341a1b40e07a..5b360208d36f 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/test/resources/data/scripts/dumpdata_script.py
+++ b/sql/hive/src/test/resources/data/scripts/dumpdata_script.py
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@
 #
 import sys
 
+if sys.version_info[0] >= 3:
+    xrange = range
+
 for i in xrange(50):
     for j in xrange(5):
         for k in xrange(20022):