diff --git a/lib/logitech/unifying_receiver/common.py b/lib/logitech/unifying_receiver/common.py
index 87208a1a..2c24f43c 100644
--- a/lib/logitech/unifying_receiver/common.py
+++ b/lib/logitech/unifying_receiver/common.py
@@ -15,30 +15,31 @@ class NamedInt(int):
 	(case-insensitive)."""
 
 	def __new__(cls, value, name):
+		assert isinstance(name, str) or isinstance(name, unicode)
 		obj = int.__new__(cls, value)
-		obj.name = str(name)
+		obj.name = name
 		return obj
 
 	def bytes(self, count=2):
-		value = int(self)
-		if value.bit_length() > count * 8:
-			raise ValueError('cannot fit %X into %d bytes' % (value, count))
-		return _pack(b'!L', value)[-count:]
+		if self.bit_length() > count * 8:
+			raise ValueError('cannot fit %X into %d bytes' % (self, count))
+		return _pack(b'!L', self)[-count:]
 
 	def __eq__(self, other):
 		if isinstance(other, NamedInt):
 			return int(self) == int(other) and self.name == other.name
 		if isinstance(other, int):
 			return int(self) == int(other)
-		if isinstance(other, basestring):
+		if isinstance(other, str) or isinstance(other, unicode):
 			return self.name.lower() == other.lower()
 
 	def __ne__(self, other):
 		return not self.__eq__(other)
 
 	def __str__(self):
-		return self.name
-	__unicode__ = __str__
+		return str(self.name)
+	def __unicode__(self):
+		return unicode(self.name)
 
 	def __repr__(self):
 		return 'NamedInt(%d, %s)' % (int(self), repr(self.name))
@@ -61,7 +62,8 @@ class NamedInts(object):
 
 	def __init__(self, **kwargs):
 		def _readable_name(n):
-			assert isinstance(n, basestring)
+			if not isinstance(n, str) and not isinstance(n, unicode):
+				raise TypeError("expected string, got " + type(n))
 			if n == n.upper():
 				n.lstrip('_')
 			return n.replace('__', '/').replace('_', ' ')
@@ -88,11 +90,6 @@ class NamedInts(object):
 		if unknown_bits:
 			yield 'unknown:%06X' % unknown_bits
 
-	# def index(self, value):
-	# 	if value in self._values:
-	# 		return self._values.index(value)
-	# 	raise IndexError('%s not found' % value)
-
 	def __getitem__(self, index):
 		if isinstance(index, int):
 			if index in self._indexed:
@@ -103,7 +100,7 @@ class NamedInts(object):
 				self._values = sorted(self._values + [value])
 				return value
 
-		elif isinstance(index, basestring):
+		elif isinstance(index, str) or isinstance(index, unicode):
 			if index in self.__dict__:
 				return self.__dict__[index]
 
@@ -134,19 +131,19 @@ class NamedInts(object):
 			return self._values[start_index:stop_index]
 
 	def __setitem__(self, index, name):
-		assert isinstance(index, int)
+		assert isinstance(index, int), type(index)
 		if isinstance(name, NamedInt):
-			assert int(index) == int(name)
+			assert int(index) == int(name), repr(index) + ' ' + repr(name)
 			value = name
-		elif isinstance(name, basestring):
+		elif isinstance(name, str) or isinstance(name, unicode):
 			value = NamedInt(index, name)
 		else:
-			raise TypeError('name must be a basestring')
+			raise TypeError('name must be a string')
 
 		if str(value) in self.__dict__:
-			raise ValueError('%s (%d) already known' % (str(value), int(value)))
+			raise ValueError('%s (%d) already known' % (value, int(value)))
 		if int(value) in self._indexed:
-			raise ValueError('%d (%s) already known' % (int(value), str(value)))
+			raise ValueError('%d (%s) already known' % (int(value), value))
 
 		self._values = sorted(self._values + [value])
 		self.__dict__[str(value)] = value
@@ -154,9 +151,9 @@ class NamedInts(object):
 
 	def __contains__(self, value):
 		if isinstance(value, int):
-			return int(value) in self._indexed
-		if isinstance(value, basestring):
-			return str(value) in self.__dict__
+			return value in self._indexed
+		if isinstance(value, str) or isinstance(value, unicode):
+			return value in self.__dict__
 
 	def __iter__(self):
 		for v in self._values: