diff --git a/scrapy/core/downloader/middleware.py b/scrapy/core/downloader/middleware.py
index 83c7b1f19..5a03dcdf7 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/downloader/middleware.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/downloader/middleware.py
@@ -40,14 +40,14 @@ class DownloaderMiddlewareManager(MiddlewareManager):
                         % (method.__self__.__class__.__name__, response.__class__.__name__)
                     )
                 if response:
-                    defer.returnValue(response)
-            defer.returnValue((yield download_func(request=request, spider=spider)))
+                    return response
+            return (yield download_func(request=request, spider=spider))
 
         @defer.inlineCallbacks
         def process_response(response):
             assert response is not None, 'Received None in process_response'
             if isinstance(response, Request):
-                defer.returnValue(response)
+                return response
 
             for method in self.methods['process_response']:
                 response = yield deferred_from_coro(method(request=request, response=response, spider=spider))
@@ -57,12 +57,12 @@ class DownloaderMiddlewareManager(MiddlewareManager):
                         % (method.__self__.__class__.__name__, type(response))
                     )
                 if isinstance(response, Request):
-                    defer.returnValue(response)
-            defer.returnValue(response)
+                    return response
+            return response
 
         @defer.inlineCallbacks
-        def process_exception(_failure):
-            exception = _failure.value
+        def process_exception(failure):
+            exception = failure.value
             for method in self.methods['process_exception']:
                 response = yield deferred_from_coro(method(request=request, exception=exception, spider=spider))
                 if response is not None and not isinstance(response, (Response, Request)):
@@ -71,8 +71,8 @@ class DownloaderMiddlewareManager(MiddlewareManager):
                         % (method.__self__.__class__.__name__, type(response))
                     )
                 if response:
-                    defer.returnValue(response)
-            defer.returnValue(_failure)
+                    return response
+            return failure
 
         deferred = mustbe_deferred(process_request, request)
         deferred.addErrback(process_exception)
diff --git a/tests/test_feedexport.py b/tests/test_feedexport.py
index c5589e52f..e02b0b840 100644
--- a/tests/test_feedexport.py
+++ b/tests/test_feedexport.py
@@ -433,7 +433,7 @@ class FeedExportTest(unittest.TestCase):
             for file_path in FEEDS.keys():
                 os.remove(str(file_path))
 
-        defer.returnValue(content)
+        return content
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def exported_data(self, items, settings):
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ class FeedExportTest(unittest.TestCase):
                     yield item
 
         data = yield self.run_and_export(TestSpider, settings)
-        defer.returnValue(data)
+        return data
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def exported_no_data(self, settings):
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ class FeedExportTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 pass
 
         data = yield self.run_and_export(TestSpider, settings)
-        defer.returnValue(data)
+        return data
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def assertExportedCsv(self, items, header, rows, settings=None, ordered=True):
diff --git a/tests/test_spidermiddleware_output_chain.py b/tests/test_spidermiddleware_output_chain.py
index b26353d6c..ad4d6fb98 100644
--- a/tests/test_spidermiddleware_output_chain.py
+++ b/tests/test_spidermiddleware_output_chain.py
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ class TestSpiderMiddleware(TestCase):
         crawler = get_crawler(spider)
         with LogCapture() as log:
             yield crawler.crawl(mockserver=self.mockserver)
-        raise defer.returnValue(log)
+        return log
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_recovery(self):