diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
index 7aa119f..05926ee 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
@@ -18,12 +18,13 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         include:
-          - {name: Linux, python: '3.9', os: ubuntu-latest, tox: py39}
-          - {name: Windows, python: '3.9', os: windows-latest, tox: py39}
-          - {name: Mac, python: '3.9', os: macos-latest, tox: py39}
+          - {name: Linux, python: '3.11', os: ubuntu-latest, tox: py311}
+          - {name: Windows, python: '3.11', os: windows-latest, tox: py311}
+          - {name: Mac, python: '3.11', os: macos-latest, tox: py311}
+          - {name: '3.10', python: '3.10', os: ubuntu-latest, tox: py310}
+          - {name: '3.9', python: '3.9', os: ubuntu-latest, tox: py39}
           - {name: '3.8', python: '3.8', os: ubuntu-latest, tox: py38}
           - {name: '3.7', python: '3.7', os: ubuntu-latest, tox: py37}
-          - {name: 'PyPy2', python: 'pypy-2.7', os: ubuntu-latest, tox: pypy}
           - {name: 'PyPy3', python: 'pypy-3.9', os: ubuntu-latest, tox: pypy3}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
@@ -45,19 +46,3 @@ jobs:
           key: pip|${{ runner.os }}|${{ matrix.python }}|${{ hashFiles('setup.py') }}|${{ hashFiles('requirements/*.txt') }}
       - run: pip install tox
       - run: tox -e ${{ matrix.tox }}
-  tests-py27:
-    name: '2.7'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    container:
-      image: python:2.7.18-buster
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
-      - name: update pip
-        run: |
-          pip install -U wheel
-          pip install -U setuptools
-          python -m pip install -U pip
-      - run: pip install tox
-      - run: tox -e py27
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/clastic/_version.py b/clastic/_version.py
index 38ac09b..ba40cb9 100644
--- a/clastic/_version.py
+++ b/clastic/_version.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
-version_info = (21, 1, 2, '')
+version_info = (23, 0, 0, 'dev')
 __version__ = '.'.join(["%s" % part for part in version_info if part or part == 0])
diff --git a/clastic/_werkzeug_serving.py b/clastic/_werkzeug_serving.py
index d4660fd..c57d653 100644
--- a/clastic/_werkzeug_serving.py
+++ b/clastic/_werkzeug_serving.py
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@
     :license: BSD, see LICENSE for more details.
 
 """
-from __future__ import with_statement
 
 import os
 import socket
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@
 
 import werkzeug
 from werkzeug._internal import _log
-from werkzeug._compat import iteritems, PY2, reraise, text_type, \
+from werkzeug._compat import iteritems, reraise, text_type, \
      wsgi_encoding_dance
 from werkzeug.urls import url_parse, url_unquote
 from werkzeug.exceptions import InternalServerError, BadRequest
@@ -602,14 +601,6 @@ def restart_with_reloader():
         new_environ = os.environ.copy()
         new_environ['WERKZEUG_RUN_MAIN'] = 'true'
 
-        # a weird bug on windows. sometimes unicode strings end up in the
-        # environment and subprocess.call does not like this, encode them
-        # to latin1 and continue.
-        if os.name == 'nt' and PY2:
-            for key, value in iteritems(new_environ):
-                if isinstance(value, text_type):
-                    new_environ[key] = value.encode('iso-8859-1')
-
         exit_code = subprocess.call(args, env=new_environ)
         if exit_code != 3:
             return exit_code
diff --git a/clastic/application.py b/clastic/application.py
index c06c725..ebd278e 100644
--- a/clastic/application.py
+++ b/clastic/application.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import os
 import itertools
diff --git a/clastic/contrib/obj_browser.py b/clastic/contrib/obj_browser.py
index 3ddfa8a..ab31452 100644
--- a/clastic/contrib/obj_browser.py
+++ b/clastic/contrib/obj_browser.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import gc
 import sys
diff --git a/clastic/contrib/webtop/top.py b/clastic/contrib/webtop/top.py
index 2920967..57c2277 100644
--- a/clastic/contrib/webtop/top.py
+++ b/clastic/contrib/webtop/top.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import os
 
diff --git a/clastic/meta.py b/clastic/meta.py
index 880f821..2d5faa4 100644
--- a/clastic/meta.py
+++ b/clastic/meta.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import os
 import sys
diff --git a/clastic/middleware/context.py b/clastic/middleware/context.py
index 5311027..357f5d4 100644
--- a/clastic/middleware/context.py
+++ b/clastic/middleware/context.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import sys
 if sys.version_info < (3,3,):
diff --git a/clastic/middleware/core.py b/clastic/middleware/core.py
index f91b90f..992c0fb 100644
--- a/clastic/middleware/core.py
+++ b/clastic/middleware/core.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 from werkzeug.utils import cached_property
 from werkzeug.wrappers import BaseResponse
 
-from ..sinter import make_chain, get_arg_names, PY3, compile_code
+from ..sinter import make_chain, get_arg_names, compile_code
 
 _INNER_NAME = 'next'
 
diff --git a/clastic/middleware/form.py b/clastic/middleware/form.py
index 1d9956d..3e21541 100644
--- a/clastic/middleware/form.py
+++ b/clastic/middleware/form.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import sys
 if sys.version_info < (3,3,):
diff --git a/clastic/middleware/profile.py b/clastic/middleware/profile.py
index 32114db..4368467 100644
--- a/clastic/middleware/profile.py
+++ b/clastic/middleware/profile.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import cProfile
 from pstats import Stats
diff --git a/clastic/render/ashes_templates.py b/clastic/render/ashes_templates.py
index 3194bd3..b272106 100644
--- a/clastic/render/ashes_templates.py
+++ b/clastic/render/ashes_templates.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 from werkzeug.wrappers import Response
 
diff --git a/clastic/render/chameleon_templates.py b/clastic/render/chameleon_templates.py
index 67d1e17..1b1046f 100644
--- a/clastic/render/chameleon_templates.py
+++ b/clastic/render/chameleon_templates.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import print_function, unicode_literals
 
 import sys
 try:
diff --git a/clastic/render/mako_templates.py b/clastic/render/mako_templates.py
index 4563b9c..37baf32 100644
--- a/clastic/render/mako_templates.py
+++ b/clastic/render/mako_templates.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import mako
 from mako import exceptions
diff --git a/clastic/render/simple.py b/clastic/render/simple.py
index 55dc53e..693696e 100644
--- a/clastic/render/simple.py
+++ b/clastic/render/simple.py
@@ -3,25 +3,12 @@
 import sys
 import itertools
 from json import JSONEncoder
-import sys
-if sys.version_info < (3,3,):
-    from collections import Mapping, Sized, Iterable
-else:
-    from collections.abc import Mapping, Sized, Iterable
+from collections.abc import Mapping, Sized, Iterable
 
 from werkzeug.wrappers import Response
 
 from .tabular import TabularRender
 
-PY2 = (sys.version_info[0] == 2)
-
-try:
-    unicode
-except NameError:
-    # py3
-    unicode = str
-
-
 class ClasticJSONEncoder(JSONEncoder):
     def __init__(self, **kw):
         self.dev_mode = kw.pop('dev_mode', False)
@@ -29,8 +16,7 @@ def __init__(self, **kw):
         kw.setdefault('ensure_ascii', True)
         kw.setdefault('indent', 2)
         kw.setdefault('sort_keys', True)
-        if not PY2:
-            kw.pop('encoding', None)
+        kw.pop('encoding', None)
         super(ClasticJSONEncoder, self).__init__(**kw)
 
     def default(self, obj):
@@ -114,10 +100,12 @@ def __init__(self, **kwargs):
             raise TypeError('unexpected keyword arguments: %r' % kwargs)
 
     def render_response(self, context, request, _route):
-        if isinstance(context, (bytes, unicode)):  # already serialized
+        if isinstance(context, str):  # already serialized but not encoded
+            context = context.encode('utf8')
+        if isinstance(context, bytes):  # already serialized and encoded
             if self._guess_json(context):
                 return Response(context, mimetype="application/json")
-            elif '<html' in context[:168]:
+            elif b'<html' in context[:168]:
                 # based on the longest DOCTYPE I found in a brief search
                 return Response(context, mimetype="text/html")
             else:
@@ -147,7 +135,7 @@ def _serialize_to_resp(self, context, request, _route):
             return self.json_render(context)
         elif resp_mime == 'text/html':
             return self.tabular_render(context, _route)
-        return Response(unicode(context), mimetype="text/plain")
+        return Response(str(context), mimetype="text/plain")
 
     @property
     def _mime_format_map(self):
@@ -162,12 +150,12 @@ def mimetypes(self):
         return self._format_mime_map.values()
 
     @staticmethod
-    def _guess_json(text):
-        if not text:
+    def _guess_json(bytestr: bytes):
+        if not bytestr:
             return False
-        elif text[0] == '{' and text[-1] == '}':
+        elif bytestr[0] == b'{' and bytestr[-1] == b'}':
             return True
-        elif text[0] == '[' and text[-1] == ']':
+        elif bytestr[0] == b'[' and bytestr[-1] == b']':
             return True
         else:
             return False
diff --git a/clastic/render/tabular.py b/clastic/render/tabular.py
index 60c655c..9a660d9 100644
--- a/clastic/render/tabular.py
+++ b/clastic/render/tabular.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import os
 import re
diff --git a/clastic/server.py b/clastic/server.py
index bf0bebe..0317849 100644
--- a/clastic/server.py
+++ b/clastic/server.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals, print_function
 
 from collections import deque
 import os
diff --git a/clastic/sinter.py b/clastic/sinter.py
index f38e71f..c52b7a3 100644
--- a/clastic/sinter.py
+++ b/clastic/sinter.py
@@ -1,18 +1,14 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import print_function
 
-import sys
 import types
 import inspect
 import hashlib
 import linecache
 
 from boltons import iterutils
-from boltons.strutils import camel2under
 from boltons.funcutils import FunctionBuilder
 
-PY3 = (sys.version_info[0] == 3)
 _VERBOSE = False
 _INDENT = '    '
 
@@ -39,9 +35,6 @@ def get_fb(f, drop_self=True):
 
 
 def get_callable_name(f):
-    if not PY3:
-        return f.__module__, f.func_name
-
     path = []
     if inspect.ismethod(f):
         path.append(f.__self__.__class__.__name__)
@@ -158,10 +151,7 @@ def compile_code(code_str, name, env=None, verbose=_VERBOSE):
     code = compile(code_str, unique_filename, 'single')
     if verbose:
         print(code_str)
-    if PY3:
-        exec(code, env)
-    else:
-        exec("exec code in env")
+    exec(code, env)
 
     linecache.cache[unique_filename] = (
         len(code_str),
diff --git a/clastic/static.py b/clastic/static.py
index e51f193..e378f24 100644
--- a/clastic/static.py
+++ b/clastic/static.py
@@ -17,20 +17,12 @@
 # TODO: default favicon.ico StaticApplication?
 # TODO: process paths
 
-try:
-    unicode = unicode
-    PY3 = False
-except NameError:
-    # py3
-    unicode = str
-    PY3 = True
-
 DEFAULT_MAX_AGE = 360
 DEFAULT_TEXT_MIME = 'text/plain'
 DEFAULT_BINARY_MIME = 'application/octet-stream'
 
 # string.printable doesn't cut it
-_PRINTABLE = b''.join([chr(x).encode('latin-1') if PY3 else chr(x)
+_PRINTABLE = b''.join([chr(x).encode('latin-1')
                        for x in [7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 27] +
                        list(range(32, 256))])
 
@@ -150,7 +142,7 @@ def __init__(self,
                  cache_timeout=DEFAULT_MAX_AGE,
                  default_text_mime=DEFAULT_TEXT_MIME,
                  default_binary_mime=DEFAULT_BINARY_MIME):
-        if isinstance(search_paths, (unicode, bytes)):
+        if isinstance(search_paths, (str, bytes)):
             search_paths = [search_paths]
         self.search_paths = search_paths
         self.cache_timeout = cache_timeout
@@ -161,7 +153,7 @@ def __init__(self,
 
     def get_file_response(self, path, request):
         try:
-            if not isinstance(path, (unicode, bytes)):
+            if not isinstance(path, (str, bytes)):
                 path = '/'.join(path)
             full_path = find_file(self.search_paths, path)
             if full_path is None:
diff --git a/clastic/tests/common.py b/clastic/tests/common.py
index 9cde249..0fb29cc 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/common.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/common.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import clastic
 from clastic import Middleware
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_ashes_render.py b/clastic/tests/test_ashes_render.py
index f315978..f0c5815 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_ashes_render.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_ashes_render.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 import os
 from pytest import raises
 
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_basic.py b/clastic/tests/test_basic.py
index abf13f0..16d7b66 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_basic.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_basic.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 from pytest import raises
 
 
@@ -11,7 +10,7 @@
 
 def test_create_empty_application():
     app = Application()
-    return app
+    assert app
 
 
 def test_create_hw_application():
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_chameleon_render.py b/clastic/tests/test_chameleon_render.py
index 043fcdd..a525830 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_chameleon_render.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_chameleon_render.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 import os
 
 from pytest import raises
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_cline.py b/clastic/tests/test_cline.py
index 42e6141..2f07f5e 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_cline.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_cline.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 from clastic.cline import Cline
 
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_context_proc.py b/clastic/tests/test_context_proc.py
index a9861a0..37b7097 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_context_proc.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_context_proc.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 from pytest import raises
 
 import json
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_cookie.py b/clastic/tests/test_cookie.py
index 8870994..9cc944a 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_cookie.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_cookie.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import time
 
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_decorators.py b/clastic/tests/test_decorators.py
index 05acc96..d9d19d2 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_decorators.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_decorators.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 from pytest import raises
 
 from functools import wraps
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_errors.py b/clastic/tests/test_errors.py
index bcbb0bd..c33cb17 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_errors.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_errors.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import json
 
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_flaw.py b/clastic/tests/test_flaw.py
index 3a837d0..30860c5 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_flaw.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_flaw.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 from clastic.flaw import create_app
 
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_http_routing.py b/clastic/tests/test_http_routing.py
index 94942e4..0603a41 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_http_routing.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_http_routing.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 from clastic import Application, render_basic, RerouteWSGI
 from clastic.route import GET, POST, PUT, DELETE
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_mako_render.py b/clastic/tests/test_mako_render.py
index ec14b1b..b4960d9 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_mako_render.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_mako_render.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 import os
 
 from pytest import raises
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_meta.py b/clastic/tests/test_meta.py
index 1e5fae6..d486d62 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_meta.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_meta.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import os
 import sys
@@ -10,13 +9,6 @@
 from clastic.tests.common import cookie_hello_world
 
 _CUR_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
-
-try:
-    unicode
-    PY3 = False
-except:
-    PY3 = True
-
 IS_PYPY = '__pypy__' in sys.builtin_module_names
 
 
@@ -54,7 +46,7 @@ def ep_method(self):
               ('/callable_obj', obj, render_basic),
               StaticFileRoute('/file', _CUR_DIR + '/test_meta.py'),
               ('/meta', MetaApplication())]
-    if PY3 and not IS_PYPY:
+    if not IS_PYPY:
         routes.append(('/builtin', sum, render_basic))
 
     app = Application(routes=routes,
@@ -62,7 +54,7 @@ def ep_method(self):
 
     cl = app.get_local_client()
     assert cl.get('/meta/').status_code == 200
-    if not PY3 or IS_PYPY:
+    if IS_PYPY:
         return
 
     resp = cl.get('/meta/json/')
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_middleware.py b/clastic/tests/test_middleware.py
index 2102ce0..f83a04f 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_middleware.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_middleware.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import json
 import itertools
@@ -131,7 +130,8 @@ def test_profile_mw():
     resp = cl.get('/?_prof=true')
     assert resp.status_code == 200
     resp_data = resp.get_data(True)
-    assert 'function calls in 0.00' in resp_data  # e.g., 46 function calls in 0.000 seconds but that's variable/flaky
+    assert 'function calls in' in resp_data  # e.g., 46 function calls in 0.000 seconds but that's variable/flaky
+    assert '0.00' in resp_data # had to split this because pypy sometimes gives back "-0.000 seconds"
 
 
 def test_wsgi_mw():
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_obj_browser.py b/clastic/tests/test_obj_browser.py
index a9fa3f4..cfd3672 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_obj_browser.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_obj_browser.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import sys
 
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_render.py b/clastic/tests/test_render.py
index 23228f1..991a632 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_render.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_render.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import os
 import json
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_render_error.py b/clastic/tests/test_render_error.py
index 5034e4b..86da024 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_render_error.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_render_error.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 from pytest import raises
 
 from clastic import Application, Route, render_basic
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_routing.py b/clastic/tests/test_routing.py
index 7dd58ba..8b45e4c 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_routing.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_routing.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 from pytest import raises
 
 from clastic import Application, render_basic, Response
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_serve.py b/clastic/tests/test_serve.py
index aa69072..71d57ca 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_serve.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_serve.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import os
 
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_static.py b/clastic/tests/test_static.py
index d69a17a..5400985 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_static.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_static.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 import os
 
 from clastic import Application, StaticApplication, StaticFileRoute
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_stats_mw.py b/clastic/tests/test_stats_mw.py
index 31e1da4..41e4d2e 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_stats_mw.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_stats_mw.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import json
 
diff --git a/clastic/tests/test_webtop.py b/clastic/tests/test_webtop.py
index 1f674b6..ff2e9d8 100644
--- a/clastic/tests/test_webtop.py
+++ b/clastic/tests/test_webtop.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import os
 
diff --git a/clastic/utils.py b/clastic/utils.py
index 1dfb915..a37e9f6 100644
--- a/clastic/utils.py
+++ b/clastic/utils.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import os
 import time
diff --git a/examples/basic.py b/examples/basic.py
index cbfa181..e9e5957 100644
--- a/examples/basic.py
+++ b/examples/basic.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import sys
 sys.path.append('..')  # to work out of the box in the source tree
diff --git a/requirements.in b/requirements.in
index 273aba5..558c36b 100644
--- a/requirements.in
+++ b/requirements.in
@@ -1,25 +1,13 @@
 ashes
-attrs==21.4.0
-click<8  # pip-tools uses it
 boltons
 chameleon<3.10  # 4.0 dropped 2.7 support, 3.10 made scopes dict-like in a way that breaks tests
-coverage<6
+coverage
 face
-filelock==3.2.1
-glom<23.3.0  # dropped py2
-importlib-metadata==2.1.3  # py2-only
-Mako==1.1.6  # py2-only
-markupsafe==1.1.1
-more-itertools<6.0.0  # >=6.0 breaks py27/pypy
-pip-tools==5.5.0
-psutil==5.8.0
-pytest<5.0.0
-secure-cookie==0.1.0  # werkzeug goes 1.0 but adds an 0ver dep that's been in prod since 2007. can go to 0.2.0 after py2 drop
-tox==3.28.0  # py2
-Werkzeug==1.0.1
-packaging==20.9  # py2-only
-platformdirs==2.0.2  # py2-only
-pyparsing==2.4.7  # py2-only
-pip==20.1.1
-virtualenv==20.15.1
-zipp==1.2.0
+mako
+pip-tools
+psutil
+pytest
+secure-cookie  # werkzeug goes 1.0 but adds an 0ver dep that's been in prod since 2007. can go to 0.2.0 after py2 drop
+tox
+Werkzeug<2
+
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index b754a3c..3c7fd02 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,40 +1,43 @@
 #
-# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with python 3.7
-# To update, run:
+# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with Python 3.7
+# by the following command:
 #
 #    pip-compile --annotation-style=line --strip-extras requirements.in
 #
 ashes==19.2.0             # via -r requirements.in
-atomicwrites==1.4.1       # via pytest
-attrs==21.4.0             # via -r requirements.in, glom, pytest
-boltons==23.0.0           # via -r requirements.in, face, glom
+boltons==23.1.1           # via -r requirements.in, face
+build==1.0.3              # via pip-tools
+cachetools==5.3.2         # via tox
 chameleon==3.9.1          # via -r requirements.in
-click==7.1.2              # via -r requirements.in, pip-tools
-coverage==5.5             # via -r requirements.in
-distlib==0.3.7            # via virtualenv
-face==20.1.1              # via -r requirements.in, glom
-filelock==3.2.1           # via -r requirements.in, tox, virtualenv
-glom==23.1.1              # via -r requirements.in
-importlib-metadata==2.1.3  # via -r requirements.in, pytest, tox, virtualenv
-mako==1.1.6               # via -r requirements.in
-markupsafe==1.1.1         # via -r requirements.in, mako
-more-itertools==5.0.0     # via -r requirements.in, pytest
-packaging==20.9           # via -r requirements.in, pytest, tox
-pip-tools==5.5.0          # via -r requirements.in
-platformdirs==2.0.2       # via -r requirements.in, virtualenv
-pluggy==0.13.1            # via pytest, tox
-psutil==5.8.0             # via -r requirements.in
-py==1.11.0                # via pytest, tox
-pyparsing==2.4.7          # via -r requirements.in, packaging
-pytest==4.6.11            # via -r requirements.in
-secure-cookie==0.1.0      # via -r requirements.in
-six==1.16.0               # via more-itertools, pytest, tox, virtualenv
-#  tomli==2.0.1              # via tox  <- shouldn't be. tomli was added in tox>=4
-tox==3.28.0               # via -r requirements.in
-virtualenv==20.15.1       # via -r requirements.in, tox
-wcwidth==0.2.8            # via pytest
+chardet==5.2.0            # via tox
+click==8.1.7              # via pip-tools
+colorama==0.4.6           # via tox
+coverage==7.2.7           # via -r requirements.in
+distlib==0.3.8            # via virtualenv
+exceptiongroup==1.2.0     # via pytest
+face==22.0.0              # via -r requirements.in
+filelock==3.12.2          # via tox, virtualenv
+importlib-metadata==6.7.0  # via build, click, mako, pluggy, pytest, tox, virtualenv
+iniconfig==2.0.0          # via pytest
+mako==1.2.4               # via -r requirements.in
+markupsafe==2.1.3         # via mako
+packaging==23.2           # via build, pyproject-api, pytest, tox
+pip-tools==6.14.0         # via -r requirements.in
+platformdirs==4.0.0       # via tox, virtualenv
+pluggy==1.2.0             # via pytest, tox
+psutil==5.9.7             # via -r requirements.in
+pyproject-api==1.5.3      # via tox
+pyproject-hooks==1.0.0    # via build
+pytest==7.4.3             # via -r requirements.in
+secure-cookie==0.2.0      # via -r requirements.in
+tomli==2.0.1              # via build, pip-tools, pyproject-api, pytest, tox
+tox==4.8.0                # via -r requirements.in
+typing-extensions==4.7.1  # via importlib-metadata, platformdirs, tox
+virtualenv==20.25.0       # via tox
 werkzeug==1.0.1           # via -r requirements.in, secure-cookie
-zipp==1.2.0              # via importlib-metadata
+wheel==0.42.0             # via pip-tools
+zipp==3.15.0              # via importlib-metadata
 
 # The following packages are considered to be unsafe in a requirements file:
 # pip
+# setuptools
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index d8a4cb3..bcfebe5 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@
 """
 
 import os
-import imp
-import sys
+import importlib
 from setuptools import setup
 
 
@@ -15,9 +14,15 @@
 __url__ = 'https://github.com/mahmoud/clastic'
 __license__ = 'BSD'
 
+def import_path(module_name, path):
+    spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(module_name, path)
+    module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
+    spec.loader.exec_module(module)
+    return module
+
 CUR_PATH = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 _version_mod_path = os.path.join(CUR_PATH, 'clastic', '_version.py')
-_version_mod = imp.load_source('_version', _version_mod_path)
+_version_mod = import_path('_version', _version_mod_path)
 __version__ = _version_mod.__version__
 
 
@@ -25,8 +30,6 @@
         ' explicit development practices while eliminating'
         ' global state.')
 
-if sys.version_info < (2,7):
-    raise NotImplementedError("Sorry, clastic only supports Python >2.6")
 
 setup(name='clastic',
       version=__version__,
@@ -48,14 +51,14 @@
           'attrs<=21.4.0',
           'boltons>=20.0.0', 
           'glom<=23.1.1', 
-          'secure-cookie==0.1.0'],
+          'secure-cookie==0.1.0,<=0.2.0'],
       license=__license__,
       platforms='any',
       tests_require=[
           'chameleon==3.9.1',
-          'Mako==1.1.6', 
-          'pytest==4.6.9', 
-          'psutil==5.8.0'],
+          'Mako', 
+          'pytest', 
+          'psutil'],
       classifiers=[
           'Intended Audience :: Developers',
           'Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable',
@@ -66,11 +69,12 @@
           'Topic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTP :: WSGI :: Server',
           'Topic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTP :: Dynamic Content :: CGI Tools/Libraries',
           'Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Application Frameworks',
-          'Programming Language :: Python :: 2.7',
           'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7',
           'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8',
           'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9',
-          'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10']
+          'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10',
+          'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11',
+          ]
 
       )
 
@@ -79,13 +83,16 @@
 
 * tox
 * git commit (if applicable)
-* Bump setup.py version off of -dev
+* Bump clastic/_version version off of -dev
 * git commit -a -m "bump version for x.y.z release"
-* python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel upload
-* git tag -a x.y.z -m "brief summary"
+* rm -rf dist/*
+* python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
+* twine upload dist/*
+* bump docs/conf.py version
 * write CHANGELOG
 * git commit
-* bump setup.py version onto n+1 dev
+* git tag -a x.y.z -m "brief summary"
+* bump clastic/_version.py version onto n+1 dev
 * git commit
 * git push
 
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 69dec3e..491c93c 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -1,19 +1,13 @@
 [tox]
-envlist = py27,py37,py38,py39,pypy,coverage-report,packaging
+envlist = py37,py38,py39,py310,py311,pypy3,coverage-report,packaging
 
 [testenv]
 changedir = .tox
 deps = -rrequirements.txt
 commands = coverage run --parallel --rcfile {toxinidir}/.tox-coveragerc -m pytest {envsitepackagesdir}/clastic {posargs}
 
-[testenv:pypy]
-requires = pip==20.1.1
-install_command = python -m pip install {opts} pip==20.1.1 {packages}
-
-# Uses default basepython otherwise reporting doesn't work on Travis where
-# Python 3.6 is only available in 3.6 jobs.
 [testenv:coverage-report]
-depends = py27,py37,py38,py39,pypy
+depends = py37,py38,py39,py310,py311,pypy3
 changedir = .tox
 deps = coverage
 commands = coverage combine --rcfile {toxinidir}/.tox-coveragerc
@@ -24,6 +18,6 @@ commands = coverage combine --rcfile {toxinidir}/.tox-coveragerc
 [testenv:packaging]
 changedir = {toxinidir}
 deps =
-   readme_renderer==37.3
+   readme_renderer
 commands =
    python setup.py check --metadata --restructuredtext --strict