diff --git a/module_utils/ansible_ipa_client.py b/module_utils/ansible_ipa_client.py
index 5a7798c117c4f6bf90ff24cc154f7137ddc576e2..2e58d1b3b77033912379668d729c347688e1329d 100644
--- a/module_utils/ansible_ipa_client.py
+++ b/module_utils/ansible_ipa_client.py
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ if NUM_VERSION >= 40400:
     import inspect
     import logging
 
+    import six
+
     try:
         from ipaclient.install import ipadiscovery
     except ImportError:
@@ -154,6 +156,9 @@ if NUM_VERSION >= 40400:
 
     from ipapython.ipautil import realm_to_suffix, run
 
+    if six.PY3:
+        unicode = str
+
     try:
         from ipaclient.install import ntpconf
     except ImportError: