diff --git a/src/bmconfigparser.py b/src/bmconfigparser.py
index 7e82ae89..8c7abae6 100644
--- a/src/bmconfigparser.py
+++ b/src/bmconfigparser.py
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ try:
     import state
     from singleton import Singleton
 except ImportError:
-    from pybitmessage import state
-    from pybitmessage.singleton import Singleton
+    from . import state
+    from .singleton import Singleton
 
 SafeConfigParser = configparser.SafeConfigParser
 
diff --git a/src/highlevelcrypto.py b/src/highlevelcrypto.py
index f89a31c8..995c5d00 100644
--- a/src/highlevelcrypto.py
+++ b/src/highlevelcrypto.py
@@ -9,10 +9,16 @@ High level cryptographic functions based on `.pyelliptic` OpenSSL bindings.
 
 from binascii import hexlify
 
-import pyelliptic
-from bmconfigparser import BMConfigParser
-from pyelliptic import OpenSSL
-from pyelliptic import arithmetic as a
+try:
+    import pyelliptic
+    from bmconfigparser import BMConfigParser
+    from pyelliptic import OpenSSL
+    from pyelliptic import arithmetic as a
+except ImportError:
+    from . import pyelliptic
+    from .bmconfigparser import BMConfigParser
+    from .pyelliptic import OpenSSL
+    from .pyelliptic import arithmetic as a
 
 
 def makeCryptor(privkey):
diff --git a/src/protocol.py b/src/protocol.py
index 4f2d0856..e6200745 100644
--- a/src/protocol.py
+++ b/src/protocol.py
@@ -13,16 +13,30 @@ import time
 from binascii import hexlify
 from struct import Struct, pack, unpack
 
-import defaults
-import highlevelcrypto
-import state
-from addresses import (
-    encodeVarint, decodeVarint, decodeAddress, varintDecodeError)
-from bmconfigparser import BMConfigParser
-from debug import logger
-from fallback import RIPEMD160Hash
-from helper_sql import sqlExecute
-from version import softwareVersion
+try:
+    import defaults
+    import highlevelcrypto
+    import state
+    from addresses import (
+        encodeVarint, decodeVarint, decodeAddress, varintDecodeError)
+    from bmconfigparser import BMConfigParser
+    from debug import logger
+    from fallback import RIPEMD160Hash
+    from helper_sql import sqlExecute
+    from version import softwareVersion
+except ImportError:
+    from . import defaults
+    from . import highlevelcrypto
+    from . import state
+    from .addresses import (
+        encodeVarint, decodeVarint, decodeAddress, varintDecodeError)
+    from .bmconfigparser import BMConfigParser
+    from .debug import logger
+    from .fallback import RIPEMD160Hash
+    from .helper_sql import sqlExecute
+    from .version import softwareVersion
+
+PY3 = sys.version_info[0] >= 3
 
 # Service flags
 #: This is a normal network node
@@ -100,8 +114,13 @@ def encodeHost(host):
         return '\xfd\x87\xd8\x7e\xeb\x43' + base64.b32decode(
             host.split(".")[0], True)
     elif host.find(':') == -1:
-        return '\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\xFF\xFF' + \
-            socket.inet_aton(host)
+        import pdb; pdb.set_trace()
+        if PY3:
+            return '\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\xFF\xFF' + \
+                socket.inet_aton(host).decode('utf-8')
+        else:
+            return '\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\xFF\xFF' + \
+                socket.inet_aton(host)
     return socket.inet_pton(socket.AF_INET6, host)
 
 
@@ -210,7 +229,7 @@ def checkIPv6Address(host, hostStandardFormat, private=False):
         if not private:
             logger.debug('Ignoring local address: %s', hostStandardFormat)
         return hostStandardFormat if private else False
-    if (ord(host[0]) & 0xfe) == 0xfc:
+    if (ord(str(host[0])) & 0xfe) == 0xfc:
         if not private:
             logger.debug(
                 'Ignoring unique local address: %s', hostStandardFormat)
diff --git a/src/tests/test_protocol.py b/src/tests/test_protocol.py
index a3c73a73..e5cb3b3a 100644
--- a/src/tests/test_protocol.py
+++ b/src/tests/test_protocol.py
@@ -4,10 +4,6 @@ Tests for common protocol functions
 
 import unittest
 
-from .common import skip_python3
-
-skip_python3()
-
 
 class TestProtocol(unittest.TestCase):
     """Main protocol test case"""
@@ -15,11 +11,12 @@ class TestProtocol(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_check_local(self):
         """Check the logic of TCPConnection.local"""
         from pybitmessage import protocol, state
+        # import pdb; pdb.set_trace()
 
         self.assertTrue(
-            protocol.checkIPAddress(protocol.encodeHost('127.0.0.1'), True))
+            protocol.checkIPAddress(protocol.encodeHost('127.0.0.1').decode('ISO-8859-1'), True))
         self.assertTrue(
-            protocol.checkIPAddress(protocol.encodeHost('192.168.0.1'), True))
+            protocol.checkIPAddress(protocol.encodeHost('192.168.0.1').decode('ISO-8859-1'), True))
 
         self.assertTrue(
             not protocol.checkSocksIP('127.0.0.1')