diff --git a/inst/private/check_and_convert.m b/inst/private/check_and_convert.m
index 928cde144..9d951a8ed 100644
--- a/inst/private/check_and_convert.m
+++ b/inst/private/check_and_convert.m
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@
 
     sp = py.sympy;
     _sym = py.tuple({sp.Basic, sp.MatrixBase});
-    string_types = sp.compatibility.string_types;
-    integer_types = sp.compatibility.integer_types;
+    string_types = py.str;
+    integer_types = py.int;
   end
 
 
diff --git a/inst/private/python_header.py b/inst/private/python_header.py
index 2027f9782..c372c2cfa 100644
--- a/inst/private/python_header.py
+++ b/inst/private/python_header.py
@@ -184,7 +184,8 @@ def octoutput(x, et):
             c = ET.SubElement(et, "list")
             for y in x:
                 octoutput(y, c)
-        elif isinstance(x, sp.compatibility.integer_types):
+        elif isinstance(x, int) or \
+             (sys.version_info[0] <= 2 and isinstance(x, long)):
             a = ET.SubElement(et, "item")
             f = ET.SubElement(a, "f")
             f.text = str(OCTCODE_INT)
@@ -205,7 +206,8 @@ def octoutput(x, et):
             f.text = d2hex(x.real)
             f = ET.SubElement(a, "f")
             f.text = d2hex(x.imag)
-        elif isinstance(x, sp.compatibility.string_types):
+        elif isinstance(x, str) or \
+             (sys.version_info[0] <= 2 and isinstance(x, unicode)):
             a = ET.SubElement(et, "item")
             f = ET.SubElement(a, "f")
             f.text = str(OCTCODE_STR)