diff --git a/django_elasticsearch/contrib/restframework/restframework2.py b/django_elasticsearch/contrib/restframework/restframework2.py
index e17b7a2..a6058e9 100644
--- a/django_elasticsearch/contrib/restframework/restframework2.py
+++ b/django_elasticsearch/contrib/restframework/restframework2.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 from rest_framework.filters import DjangoFilterBackend
 
 from django_elasticsearch.models import EsIndexable
+from django.utils import six
 
 
 from elasticsearch import NotFoundError
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ def filter_queryset(self, request, queryset, view):
 
             filterable = getattr(view, 'filter_fields', [])
             filters = dict([(k, v)
-                            for k, v in request.GET.iteritems()
+                            for k, v in six.iteritems(request.GET)
                             if k in filterable])
 
             q = queryset.query(query).filter(**filters)
@@ -147,7 +148,7 @@ def list(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
     def dispatch(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
         try:
             r = super(IndexableModelMixin, self).dispatch(request, *args, **kwargs)
-        except (ConnectionError, TransportError), e:
+        except (ConnectionError, TransportError) as e:
             # reset object list
             self.queryset = None
             self.es_failed = True
diff --git a/django_elasticsearch/contrib/restframework/restframework3.py b/django_elasticsearch/contrib/restframework/restframework3.py
index 090cc1e..4c311ad 100644
--- a/django_elasticsearch/contrib/restframework/restframework3.py
+++ b/django_elasticsearch/contrib/restframework/restframework3.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 from rest_framework.filters import DjangoFilterBackend
 
 from django_elasticsearch.models import EsIndexable
+from django.utils import six
 
 
 try:
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ def filter_queryset(self, request, queryset, view):
 
             filterable = getattr(view, 'filter_fields', [])
             filters = dict([(k, v)
-                            for k, v in request.GET.iteritems()
+                            for k, v in six.iteritems(request.GET)
                             if k in filterable])
 
             q = queryset.query(query).filter(**filters)
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ def filter_queryset(self, queryset):
     def dispatch(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
         try:
             r = super(IndexableModelMixin, self).dispatch(request, *args, **kwargs)
-        except (ConnectionError, TransportError), e:
+        except (ConnectionError, TransportError) as e:
             # reset object list
             self.queryset = None
             self.es_failed = True
diff --git a/django_elasticsearch/managers.py b/django_elasticsearch/managers.py
index edf2718..9cbfce5 100644
--- a/django_elasticsearch/managers.py
+++ b/django_elasticsearch/managers.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 import json
+from django.utils import six
 try:
     import importlib
 except ImportError:  # python < 2.7
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ def check_cluster(self):
 
     def get_serializer(self, **kwargs):
         serializer = self.model.Elasticsearch.serializer_class
-        if isinstance(serializer, basestring):
+        if isinstance(serializer, basestring if six.PY2 else str):
             module, kls = self.model.Elasticsearch.serializer_class.rsplit(".", 1)
             mod = importlib.import_module(module)
             return getattr(mod, kls)(self.model, **kwargs)
diff --git a/django_elasticsearch/serializers.py b/django_elasticsearch/serializers.py
index 474e64e..049d32a 100644
--- a/django_elasticsearch/serializers.py
+++ b/django_elasticsearch/serializers.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 from django.db.models import FieldDoesNotExist
 from django.db.models.fields.related import ManyToManyField
-
+from django.utils import six
 
 class EsSerializer(object):
     def serialize(self, instance):
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ def deserialize(self, source):
         Returns a model instance
         """
         attrs = {}
-        for k, v in source.iteritems():
+        for k, v in six.iteritems(source):
             try:
                 attrs[k] = self.deserialize_field(source, k)
             except (AttributeError, FieldDoesNotExist):
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ def nested_serialize(self, rel):
             return obj
 
         # Fallback on a dict with id + __unicode__ value of the related model instance.
-        return dict(id=rel.pk, value=unicode(rel))
+        return dict(id=rel.pk, value=six.text_type(rel))
 
     def format(self, instance):
         # from a model instance to a dict
diff --git a/django_elasticsearch/utils.py b/django_elasticsearch/utils.py
index 1b05ad9..221c31b 100644
--- a/django_elasticsearch/utils.py
+++ b/django_elasticsearch/utils.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 
 def nested_update(d, u):
-    for k, v in u.iteritems():
+    for k, v in u.items():
         if isinstance(v, collections.Mapping):
             r = nested_update(d.get(k, {}), v)
             d[k] = r
@@ -20,4 +20,4 @@ def dict_depth(d, depth=0):
     if not isinstance(d, dict) or not d:
         return depth
     return max(dict_depth(v, depth + 1)
-               for k, v in d.iteritems())
+               for k, v in d.items())