diff --git a/qa/rpc-tests/httpbasics.py b/qa/rpc-tests/httpbasics.py
index 11e2c1385..b18c67dbc 100755
--- a/qa/rpc-tests/httpbasics.py
+++ b/qa/rpc-tests/httpbasics.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
 # Copyright (c) 2014 The Bitcoin Core developers
 # Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
 # file COPYING or https://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php .
@@ -7,21 +7,13 @@
 # Test rpc http basics
 #
 
-import sys; assert sys.version_info < (3,), ur"This script does not run under Python 3. Please use Python 2.7.x."
-
 from test_framework.test_framework import BitcoinTestFramework
-from test_framework.util import assert_equal, start_nodes
+from test_framework.util import *
 
 import base64
 
-try:
-    import http.client as httplib
-except ImportError:
-    import httplib
-try:
-    import urllib.parse as urlparse
-except ImportError:
-    import urlparse
+import http
+import urllib.parse
 
 class HTTPBasicsTest (BitcoinTestFramework):
     def setup_nodes(self):
@@ -32,72 +24,72 @@ class HTTPBasicsTest (BitcoinTestFramework):
         #################################################
         # lowlevel check for http persistent connection #
         #################################################
-        url = urlparse.urlparse(self.nodes[0].url)
+        url = urllib.parse.urlparse(self.nodes[0].url)
         authpair = url.username + ':' + url.password
-        headers = {"Authorization": "Basic " + base64.b64encode(authpair)}
+        headers = {"Authorization": "Basic " + str_to_b64str(authpair)}
 
-        conn = httplib.HTTPConnection(url.hostname, url.port)
+        conn = http.client.HTTPConnection(url.hostname, url.port)
         conn.connect()
         conn.request('POST', '/', '{"method": "getbestblockhash"}', headers)
         out1 = conn.getresponse().read()
-        assert_equal('"error":null' in out1, True)
+        assert_equal(b'"error":null' in out1, True)
         assert_equal(conn.sock!=None, True) # according to http/1.1 connection must still be open!
 
         # send 2nd request without closing connection
         conn.request('POST', '/', '{"method": "getchaintips"}', headers)
         out2 = conn.getresponse().read()
-        assert_equal('"error":null' in out2, True) # must also response with a correct json-rpc message
+        assert_equal(b'"error":null' in out2, True) # must also response with a correct json-rpc message
         assert_equal(conn.sock!=None, True) # according to http/1.1 connection must still be open!
         conn.close()
 
         # same should be if we add keep-alive because this should be the std. behaviour
-        headers = {"Authorization": "Basic " + base64.b64encode(authpair), "Connection": "keep-alive"}
+        headers = {"Authorization": "Basic " + str_to_b64str(authpair), "Connection": "keep-alive"}
 
-        conn = httplib.HTTPConnection(url.hostname, url.port)
+        conn = http.client.HTTPConnection(url.hostname, url.port)
         conn.connect()
         conn.request('POST', '/', '{"method": "getbestblockhash"}', headers)
         out1 = conn.getresponse().read()
-        assert_equal('"error":null' in out1, True)
+        assert_equal(b'"error":null' in out1, True)
         assert_equal(conn.sock!=None, True) # according to http/1.1 connection must still be open!
 
         # send 2nd request without closing connection
         conn.request('POST', '/', '{"method": "getchaintips"}', headers)
         out2 = conn.getresponse().read()
-        assert_equal('"error":null' in out2, True) # must also response with a correct json-rpc message
+        assert_equal(b'"error":null' in out2, True) # must also response with a correct json-rpc message
         assert_equal(conn.sock!=None, True) # according to http/1.1 connection must still be open!
         conn.close()
 
         # now do the same with "Connection: close"
-        headers = {"Authorization": "Basic " + base64.b64encode(authpair), "Connection":"close"}
+        headers = {"Authorization": "Basic " + str_to_b64str(authpair), "Connection":"close"}
 
-        conn = httplib.HTTPConnection(url.hostname, url.port)
+        conn = http.client.HTTPConnection(url.hostname, url.port)
         conn.connect()
         conn.request('POST', '/', '{"method": "getbestblockhash"}', headers)
         out1 = conn.getresponse().read()
-        assert_equal('"error":null' in out1, True)
+        assert_equal(b'"error":null' in out1, True)
         assert_equal(conn.sock!=None, False) # now the connection must be closed after the response
 
         # node1 (2nd node) is running with disabled keep-alive option
-        urlNode1 = urlparse.urlparse(self.nodes[1].url)
+        urlNode1 = urllib.parse.urlparse(self.nodes[1].url)
         authpair = urlNode1.username + ':' + urlNode1.password
-        headers = {"Authorization": "Basic " + base64.b64encode(authpair)}
+        headers = {"Authorization": "Basic " + str_to_b64str(authpair)}
 
-        conn = httplib.HTTPConnection(urlNode1.hostname, urlNode1.port)
+        conn = http.client.HTTPConnection(urlNode1.hostname, urlNode1.port)
         conn.connect()
         conn.request('POST', '/', '{"method": "getbestblockhash"}', headers)
         out1 = conn.getresponse().read()
-        assert_equal('"error":null' in out1, True)
+        assert_equal(b'"error":null' in out1, True)
 
         # node2 (third node) is running with standard keep-alive parameters which means keep-alive is on
-        urlNode2 = urlparse.urlparse(self.nodes[2].url)
+        urlNode2 = urllib.parse.urlparse(self.nodes[2].url)
         authpair = urlNode2.username + ':' + urlNode2.password
-        headers = {"Authorization": "Basic " + base64.b64encode(authpair)}
+        headers = {"Authorization": "Basic " + str_to_b64str(authpair)}
 
-        conn = httplib.HTTPConnection(urlNode2.hostname, urlNode2.port)
+        conn = http.client.HTTPConnection(urlNode2.hostname, urlNode2.port)
         conn.connect()
         conn.request('POST', '/', '{"method": "getbestblockhash"}', headers)
         out1 = conn.getresponse().read()
-        assert_equal('"error":null' in out1, True)
+        assert_equal(b'"error":null' in out1, True)
         assert_equal(conn.sock!=None, True) # connection must be closed because bitcoind should use keep-alive by default
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':