diff --git a/beets/util/confit.py b/beets/util/confit.py
index 238f806ca..e4a3d8f8e 100644
--- a/beets/util/confit.py
+++ b/beets/util/confit.py
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ import yaml
 import collections
 import re
 from collections import OrderedDict
-import six
 
 UNIX_DIR_VAR = 'XDG_CONFIG_HOME'
 UNIX_DIR_FALLBACK = '~/.config'
@@ -45,7 +44,7 @@ REDACTED_TOMBSTONE = 'REDACTED'
 # Utilities.
 
 PY3 = sys.version_info[0] == 3
-STRING = str if PY3 else six.text_type  # noqa
+STRING = str if PY3 else unicode  # noqa
 BASESTRING = str if PY3 else basestring  # noqa
 NUMERIC_TYPES = (int, float) if PY3 else (int, float, long)  # noqa