diff --git a/beets/dbcore/db.py b/beets/dbcore/db.py
index ae6151f34..23f61d41c 100755
--- a/beets/dbcore/db.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/db.py
@@ -31,10 +31,7 @@ from beets.util import py3_path
 from beets.dbcore import types
 from .query import MatchQuery, NullSort, TrueQuery
 import six
-if six.PY2:
-    from collections import Mapping
-else:
-    from collections.abc import Mapping
+from collections.abc import Mapping
 
 
 class DBAccessError(Exception):
diff --git a/beets/dbcore/query.py b/beets/dbcore/query.py
index 4f19f4f8d..b9f346a9e 100644
--- a/beets/dbcore/query.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/query.py
@@ -25,9 +25,6 @@ import unicodedata
 from functools import reduce
 import six
 
-if not six.PY2:
-    buffer = memoryview  # sqlite won't accept memoryview in python 2
-
 
 class ParsingError(ValueError):
     """Abstract class for any unparseable user-requested album/query
@@ -260,8 +257,8 @@ class BytesQuery(MatchQuery):
         if isinstance(self.pattern, (six.text_type, bytes)):
             if isinstance(self.pattern, six.text_type):
                 self.pattern = self.pattern.encode('utf-8')
-            self.buf_pattern = buffer(self.pattern)
-        elif isinstance(self.pattern, buffer):
+            self.buf_pattern = memoryview(self.pattern)
+        elif isinstance(self.pattern, memoryview):
             self.buf_pattern = self.pattern
             self.pattern = bytes(self.pattern)
 
diff --git a/beets/dbcore/types.py b/beets/dbcore/types.py
index c85eb1a50..a5c06bac0 100644
--- a/beets/dbcore/types.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/types.py
@@ -21,9 +21,6 @@ from . import query
 from beets.util import str2bool
 import six
 
-if not six.PY2:
-    buffer = memoryview  # sqlite won't accept memoryview in python 2
-
 
 # Abstract base.
 
@@ -104,7 +101,7 @@ class Type(object):
         `sql_value` is either a `buffer`/`memoryview` or a `unicode` object`
         and the method must handle these in addition.
         """
-        if isinstance(sql_value, buffer):
+        if isinstance(sql_value, memoryview):
             sql_value = bytes(sql_value).decode('utf-8', 'ignore')
         if isinstance(sql_value, six.text_type):
             return self.parse(sql_value)
diff --git a/beets/library.py b/beets/library.py
index dcd5a6a1f..ae6d384bc 100644
--- a/beets/library.py
+++ b/beets/library.py
@@ -37,13 +37,9 @@ from beets.dbcore import types
 import beets
 
 # To use the SQLite "blob" type, it doesn't suffice to provide a byte
-# string; SQLite treats that as encoded text. Wrapping it in a `buffer` or a
-# `memoryview`, depending on the Python version, tells it that we
-# actually mean non-text data.
-if six.PY2:
-    BLOB_TYPE = buffer  # noqa: F821
-else:
-    BLOB_TYPE = memoryview
+# string; SQLite treats that as encoded text. Wrapping it in a tells it
+# that we actually mean non-text data.
+BLOB_TYPE = memoryview
 
 log = logging.getLogger('beets')
 
@@ -1408,10 +1404,7 @@ def _sqlite_bytelower(bytestring):
         ``-DSQLITE_LIKE_DOESNT_MATCH_BLOBS``. See
         ``https://github.com/beetbox/beets/issues/2172`` for details.
     """
-    if not six.PY2:
-        return bytestring.lower()
-
-    return buffer(bytes(bytestring).lower())  # noqa: F821
+    return bytestring.lower()
 
 
 # The Library: interface to the database.
diff --git a/beets/plugins.py b/beets/plugins.py
index 23f938169..223178ab4 100644
--- a/beets/plugins.py
+++ b/beets/plugins.py
@@ -129,14 +129,9 @@ class BeetsPlugin(object):
         value after the function returns). Also determines which params may not
         be sent for backwards-compatibility.
         """
-        if six.PY2:
-            argspec = inspect.getargspec(func)
-            func_args = argspec.args
-            has_varkw = argspec.keywords is not None
-        else:
-            argspec = inspect.getfullargspec(func)
-            func_args = argspec.args
-            has_varkw = argspec.varkw is not None
+        argspec = inspect.getfullargspec(func)
+        func_args = argspec.args
+        has_varkw = argspec.varkw is not None
 
         @wraps(func)
         def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
diff --git a/beets/ui/__init__.py b/beets/ui/__init__.py
index 8d980d549..af5b77007 100644
--- a/beets/ui/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/ui/__init__.py
@@ -113,10 +113,7 @@ def decargs(arglist):
     """Given a list of command-line argument bytestrings, attempts to
     decode them to Unicode strings when running under Python 2.
     """
-    if six.PY2:
-        return [s.decode(util.arg_encoding()) for s in arglist]
-    else:
-        return arglist
+    return arglist
 
 
 def print_(*strings, **kwargs):
@@ -138,23 +135,18 @@ def print_(*strings, **kwargs):
     txt += kwargs.get('end', u'\n')
 
     # Encode the string and write it to stdout.
-    if six.PY2:
-        # On Python 2, sys.stdout expects bytes.
+    # On Python 3, sys.stdout expects text strings and uses the
+    # exception-throwing encoding error policy. To avoid throwing
+    # errors and use our configurable encoding override, we use the
+    # underlying bytes buffer instead.
+    if hasattr(sys.stdout, 'buffer'):
         out = txt.encode(_out_encoding(), 'replace')
-        sys.stdout.write(out)
+        sys.stdout.buffer.write(out)
+        sys.stdout.buffer.flush()
     else:
-        # On Python 3, sys.stdout expects text strings and uses the
-        # exception-throwing encoding error policy. To avoid throwing
-        # errors and use our configurable encoding override, we use the
-        # underlying bytes buffer instead.
-        if hasattr(sys.stdout, 'buffer'):
-            out = txt.encode(_out_encoding(), 'replace')
-            sys.stdout.buffer.write(out)
-            sys.stdout.buffer.flush()
-        else:
-            # In our test harnesses (e.g., DummyOut), sys.stdout.buffer
-            # does not exist. We instead just record the text string.
-            sys.stdout.write(txt)
+        # In our test harnesses (e.g., DummyOut), sys.stdout.buffer
+        # does not exist. We instead just record the text string.
+        sys.stdout.write(txt)
 
 
 # Configuration wrappers.
@@ -213,10 +205,7 @@ def input_(prompt=None):
     except EOFError:
         raise UserError(u'stdin stream ended while input required')
 
-    if six.PY2:
-        return resp.decode(_in_encoding(), 'ignore')
-    else:
-        return resp
+    return resp
 
 
 def input_options(options, require=False, prompt=None, fallback_prompt=None,
diff --git a/beets/ui/commands.py b/beets/ui/commands.py
index 38687b3a9..456e0afb7 100755
--- a/beets/ui/commands.py
+++ b/beets/ui/commands.py
@@ -963,12 +963,12 @@ def import_func(lib, opts, args):
         if not paths:
             raise ui.UserError(u'no path specified')
 
-        # On Python 2, we get filenames as raw bytes, which is what we
-        # need. On Python 3, we need to undo the "helpful" conversion to
-        # Unicode strings to get the real bytestring filename.
-        if not six.PY2:
-            paths = [p.encode(util.arg_encoding(), 'surrogateescape')
-                     for p in paths]
+        # On Python 2, we used to get filenames as raw bytes, which is
+        # what we need. On Python 3, we need to undo the "helpful"
+        # conversion to Unicode strings to get the real bytestring
+        # filename.
+        paths = [p.encode(util.arg_encoding(), 'surrogateescape')
+                 for p in paths]
 
     import_files(lib, paths, query)
 
diff --git a/beets/util/__init__.py b/beets/util/__init__.py
index 0ae646a22..541e5f366 100644
--- a/beets/util/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/util/__init__.py
@@ -753,10 +753,7 @@ def as_string(value):
     """Convert a value to a Unicode object for matching with a query.
     None becomes the empty string. Bytestrings are silently decoded.
     """
-    if six.PY2:
-        buffer_types = buffer, memoryview  # noqa: F821
-    else:
-        buffer_types = memoryview
+    buffer_types = memoryview
 
     if value is None:
         return u''
@@ -829,12 +826,8 @@ def convert_command_args(args):
     assert isinstance(args, list)
 
     def convert(arg):
-        if six.PY2:
-            if isinstance(arg, six.text_type):
-                arg = arg.encode(arg_encoding())
-        else:
-            if isinstance(arg, bytes):
-                arg = arg.decode(arg_encoding(), 'surrogateescape')
+        if isinstance(arg, bytes):
+            arg = arg.decode(arg_encoding(), 'surrogateescape')
         return arg
 
     return [convert(a) for a in args]
@@ -937,7 +930,7 @@ def shlex_split(s):
     Raise `ValueError` if the string is not a well-formed shell string.
     This is a workaround for a bug in some versions of Python.
     """
-    if not six.PY2 or isinstance(s, bytes):  # Shlex works fine.
+    if isinstance(s, bytes):  # Shlex works fine.
         return shlex.split(s)
 
     elif isinstance(s, six.text_type):
@@ -1120,13 +1113,9 @@ def decode_commandline_path(path):
     *reversed* to recover the same bytes before invoking the OS. On
     Windows, we want to preserve the Unicode filename "as is."
     """
-    if six.PY2:
-        # On Python 2, substitute the bytestring directly into the template.
-        return path
+    # On Python 3, the template is a Unicode string, which only supports
+    # substitution of Unicode variables.
+    if platform.system() == 'Windows':
+        return path.decode(_fsencoding())
     else:
-        # On Python 3, the template is a Unicode string, which only supports
-        # substitution of Unicode variables.
-        if platform.system() == 'Windows':
-            return path.decode(_fsencoding())
-        else:
-            return path.decode(arg_encoding(), 'surrogateescape')
+        return path.decode(arg_encoding(), 'surrogateescape')
diff --git a/beets/util/functemplate.py b/beets/util/functemplate.py
index 266534a9b..2621ebe30 100644
--- a/beets/util/functemplate.py
+++ b/beets/util/functemplate.py
@@ -128,24 +128,15 @@ def compile_func(arg_names, statements, name='_the_func', debug=False):
     the resulting Python function. If `debug`, then print out the
     bytecode of the compiled function.
     """
-    if six.PY2:
-        name = name.encode('utf-8')
-        args = ast.arguments(
-            args=[ast.Name(n, ast.Param()) for n in arg_names],
-            vararg=None,
-            kwarg=None,
-            defaults=[ex_literal(None) for _ in arg_names],
-        )
-    else:
-        args_fields = {
-            'args': [ast.arg(arg=n, annotation=None) for n in arg_names],
-            'kwonlyargs': [],
-            'kw_defaults': [],
-            'defaults': [ex_literal(None) for _ in arg_names],
-        }
-        if 'posonlyargs' in ast.arguments._fields:  # Added in Python 3.8.
-            args_fields['posonlyargs'] = []
-        args = ast.arguments(**args_fields)
+    args_fields = {
+        'args': [ast.arg(arg=n, annotation=None) for n in arg_names],
+        'kwonlyargs': [],
+        'kw_defaults': [],
+        'defaults': [ex_literal(None) for _ in arg_names],
+    }
+    if 'posonlyargs' in ast.arguments._fields:  # Added in Python 3.8.
+        args_fields['posonlyargs'] = []
+    args = ast.arguments(**args_fields)
 
     func_def = ast.FunctionDef(
         name=name,
@@ -201,10 +192,7 @@ class Symbol(object):
 
     def translate(self):
         """Compile the variable lookup."""
-        if six.PY2:
-            ident = self.ident.encode('utf-8')
-        else:
-            ident = self.ident
+        ident = self.ident
         expr = ex_rvalue(VARIABLE_PREFIX + ident)
         return [expr], set([ident]), set()
 
@@ -239,11 +227,7 @@ class Call(object):
     def translate(self):
         """Compile the function call."""
         varnames = set()
-        if six.PY2:
-            ident = self.ident.encode('utf-8')
-        else:
-            ident = self.ident
-        funcnames = set([ident])
+        funcnames = set([self.ident])
 
         arg_exprs = []
         for arg in self.args:
@@ -265,7 +249,7 @@ class Call(object):
             ))
 
         subexpr_call = ex_call(
-            FUNCTION_PREFIX + ident,
+            FUNCTION_PREFIX + self.ident,
             arg_exprs
         )
         return [subexpr_call], varnames, funcnames
diff --git a/beetsplug/bpd/__init__.py b/beetsplug/bpd/__init__.py
index 628353942..ef427024a 100644
--- a/beetsplug/bpd/__init__.py
+++ b/beetsplug/bpd/__init__.py
@@ -984,12 +984,7 @@ class Command(object):
             raise AttributeError(u'unknown command "{}"'.format(self.name))
         func = getattr(target, func_name)
 
-        if six.PY2:
-            # caution: the fields of the namedtuple are slightly different
-            # between the results of getargspec and getfullargspec.
-            argspec = inspect.getargspec(func)
-        else:
-            argspec = inspect.getfullargspec(func)
+        argspec = inspect.getfullargspec(func)
 
         # Check that `func` is able to handle the number of arguments sent
         # by the client (so we can raise ERROR_ARG instead of ERROR_SYSTEM).
diff --git a/beetsplug/convert.py b/beetsplug/convert.py
index dfc792a77..36cfd0ee9 100644
--- a/beetsplug/convert.py
+++ b/beetsplug/convert.py
@@ -16,14 +16,13 @@
 """Converts tracks or albums to external directory
 """
 from __future__ import division, absolute_import, print_function
-from beets.util import par_map, decode_commandline_path, arg_encoding
+from beets.util import par_map, decode_commandline_path
 
 import os
 import threading
 import subprocess
 import tempfile
 import shlex
-import six
 from string import Template
 
 from beets import ui, util, plugins, config
@@ -204,9 +203,6 @@ class ConvertPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
         if not quiet and not pretend:
             self._log.info(u'Encoding {0}', util.displayable_path(source))
 
-        if not six.PY2:
-            command = command.decode(arg_encoding(), 'surrogateescape')
-
         source = decode_commandline_path(source)
         dest = decode_commandline_path(dest)
 
@@ -218,10 +214,7 @@ class ConvertPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
                 'source': source,
                 'dest': dest,
             })
-            if six.PY2:
-                encode_cmd.append(args[i])
-            else:
-                encode_cmd.append(args[i].encode(util.arg_encoding()))
+            encode_cmd.append(args[i].encode(util.arg_encoding()))
 
         if pretend:
             self._log.info(u'{0}', u' '.join(ui.decargs(args)))
diff --git a/beetsplug/edit.py b/beetsplug/edit.py
index 9dbfcdd17..892052758 100644
--- a/beetsplug/edit.py
+++ b/beetsplug/edit.py
@@ -244,15 +244,10 @@ class EditPlugin(plugins.BeetsPlugin):
         old_data = [flatten(o, fields) for o in objs]
 
         # Set up a temporary file with the initial data for editing.
-        if six.PY2:
-            new = NamedTemporaryFile(mode='w', suffix='.yaml', delete=False)
-        else:
-            new = NamedTemporaryFile(mode='w', suffix='.yaml', delete=False,
-                                     encoding='utf-8')
+        new = NamedTemporaryFile(mode='w', suffix='.yaml', delete=False,
+                                 encoding='utf-8')
         old_str = dump(old_data)
         new.write(old_str)
-        if six.PY2:
-            old_str = old_str.decode('utf-8')
         new.close()
 
         # Loop until we have parseable data and the user confirms.
diff --git a/beetsplug/metasync/itunes.py b/beetsplug/metasync/itunes.py
index 3cf34e58f..c36bebc8f 100644
--- a/beetsplug/metasync/itunes.py
+++ b/beetsplug/metasync/itunes.py
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import shutil
 import tempfile
 import plistlib
 
-import six
 from six.moves.urllib.parse import urlparse, unquote
 from time import mktime
 
@@ -86,11 +85,8 @@ class Itunes(MetaSource):
             self._log.debug(
                 u'loading iTunes library from {0}'.format(library_path))
             with create_temporary_copy(library_path) as library_copy:
-                if six.PY2:
-                    raw_library = plistlib.readPlist(library_copy)
-                else:
-                    with open(library_copy, 'rb') as library_copy_f:
-                        raw_library = plistlib.load(library_copy_f)
+                with open(library_copy, 'rb') as library_copy_f:
+                    raw_library = plistlib.load(library_copy_f)
         except IOError as e:
             raise ConfigValueError(u'invalid iTunes library: ' + e.strerror)
         except Exception:
diff --git a/test/_common.py b/test/_common.py
index e44fac48b..2f2cffcf7 100644
--- a/test/_common.py
+++ b/test/_common.py
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ import sys
 import os
 import tempfile
 import shutil
-import six
 import unittest
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 
@@ -263,10 +262,7 @@ class DummyOut(object):
         self.buf.append(s)
 
     def get(self):
-        if six.PY2:
-            return b''.join(self.buf)
-        else:
-            return ''.join(self.buf)
+        return ''.join(self.buf)
 
     def flush(self):
         self.clear()
@@ -284,10 +280,7 @@ class DummyIn(object):
         self.out = out
 
     def add(self, s):
-        if six.PY2:
-            self.buf.append(s + b'\n')
-        else:
-            self.buf.append(s + '\n')
+        self.buf.append(s + '\n')
 
     def close(self):
         pass
diff --git a/test/helper.py b/test/helper.py
index 0b6eba718..69717830b 100644
--- a/test/helper.py
+++ b/test/helper.py
@@ -90,8 +90,6 @@ def control_stdin(input=None):
     """
     org = sys.stdin
     sys.stdin = StringIO(input)
-    if six.PY2:  # StringIO encoding attr isn't writable in python >= 3
-        sys.stdin.encoding = 'utf-8'
     try:
         yield sys.stdin
     finally:
@@ -110,8 +108,6 @@ def capture_stdout():
     """
     org = sys.stdout
     sys.stdout = capture = StringIO()
-    if six.PY2:  # StringIO encoding attr isn't writable in python >= 3
-        sys.stdout.encoding = 'utf-8'
     try:
         yield sys.stdout
     finally:
@@ -124,12 +120,8 @@ def _convert_args(args):
        on Python 3.
     """
     for i, elem in enumerate(args):
-        if six.PY2:
-            if isinstance(elem, six.text_type):
-                args[i] = elem.encode(util.arg_encoding())
-        else:
-            if isinstance(elem, bytes):
-                args[i] = elem.decode(util.arg_encoding())
+        if isinstance(elem, bytes):
+            args[i] = elem.decode(util.arg_encoding())
 
     return args
 
diff --git a/test/test_pipeline.py b/test/test_pipeline.py
index 82f155521..caf92d87e 100644
--- a/test/test_pipeline.py
+++ b/test/test_pipeline.py
@@ -136,10 +136,7 @@ class ExceptionTest(unittest.TestCase):
         pull = pl.pull()
         for i in range(3):
             next(pull)
-        if six.PY2:
-            self.assertRaises(ExceptionFixture, pull.next)
-        else:
-            self.assertRaises(ExceptionFixture, pull.__next__)
+        self.assertRaises(ExceptionFixture, pull.__next__)
 
 
 class ParallelExceptionTest(unittest.TestCase):
diff --git a/test/test_ui.py b/test/test_ui.py
index 5cfed1fda..ab1b4dac1 100644
--- a/test/test_ui.py
+++ b/test/test_ui.py
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import shutil
 import re
 import subprocess
 import platform
-import six
 import unittest
 
 from mock import patch, Mock
@@ -66,8 +65,6 @@ class ListTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
         stdout = self._run_list([u'na\xefve'])
         out = stdout.getvalue()
-        if six.PY2:
-            out = out.decode(stdout.encoding)
         self.assertTrue(u'na\xefve' in out)
 
     def test_list_item_path(self):
diff --git a/test/test_util.py b/test/test_util.py
index 0d0bbd7b0..b2452d597 100644
--- a/test/test_util.py
+++ b/test/test_util.py
@@ -104,8 +104,6 @@ class UtilTest(unittest.TestCase):
             ])
         self.assertEqual(p, u'foo/_/bar')
 
-    @unittest.skipIf(six.PY2, 'surrogateescape error handler not available'
-                     'on Python 2')
     def test_convert_command_args_keeps_undecodeable_bytes(self):
         arg = b'\x82'  # non-ascii bytes
         cmd_args = util.convert_command_args([arg])