diff --git a/oauth2client/client.py b/oauth2client/client.py
index b851fe9c0..f68036097 100755
--- a/oauth2client/client.py
+++ b/oauth2client/client.py
@@ -1405,8 +1405,10 @@ def verify_id_token(id_token, audience, http=None,
 def _urlsafe_b64decode(b64string):
   # Guard against unicode strings, which base64 can't handle.
   b64string = b64string.encode('ascii')
-  padded = b64string + '=' * (4 - len(b64string) % 4)
-  return base64.urlsafe_b64decode(padded)
+  padded = b64string + b'=' * (4 - len(b64string) % 4)
+  decoded = base64.urlsafe_b64decode(padded)
+  decoded = bytes.decode(decoded)
+  return decoded
 
 
 def _extract_id_token(id_token):
@@ -1682,6 +1684,7 @@ def step2_exchange(self, code, http=None):
 
     resp, content = http.request(self.token_uri, method='POST', body=body,
                                  headers=headers)
+    content = bytes.decode(content)
     d = _parse_exchange_token_response(content)
     if resp.status == 200 and 'access_token' in d:
       access_token = d['access_token']