diff --git a/pubs/commands/add_cmd.py b/pubs/commands/add_cmd.py
index 0ee13e8..a22c0a5 100644
--- a/pubs/commands/add_cmd.py
+++ b/pubs/commands/add_cmd.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ def parser(subparsers, conf):
                         default=None
                         ).completer = CommaSeparatedTagsCompletion(conf)
     parser.add_argument('-k', '--citekey', help='citekey associated with the paper;\nif not provided, one will be generated automatically.',
-                        default=None, type=p3.to_utf8)
+                        default=None, type=p3.u_maybe)
     parser.add_argument('-L', '--link', action='store_false', dest='copy', default=True,
                         help="don't copy document files, just create a link.")
     parser.add_argument('-M', '--move', action='store_true', dest='move', default=False,
diff --git a/pubs/commands/remove_cmd.py b/pubs/commands/remove_cmd.py
index ed8e23c..0b7f9e0 100644
--- a/pubs/commands/remove_cmd.py
+++ b/pubs/commands/remove_cmd.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from .. import repo
 from .. import color
 from ..uis import get_ui
 from ..utils import resolve_citekey_list
-from ..p3 import ustr, to_utf8
+from ..p3 import ustr, u_maybe
 from ..completion import CiteKeyCompletion
 
 
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ def parser(subparsers, conf):
     parser = subparsers.add_parser('remove', help='removes a publication')
     parser.add_argument('-f', '--force', action='store_true', default=None,
                         help="does not prompt for confirmation.")
-    parser.add_argument('citekeys', nargs='+', type=to_utf8,
+    parser.add_argument('citekeys', nargs='+', type=u_maybe,
                         help="one or several citekeys",
                         ).completer = CiteKeyCompletion(conf)
     return parser
diff --git a/pubs/p3.py b/pubs/p3.py
index 5e10e02..197d26f 100644
--- a/pubs/p3.py
+++ b/pubs/p3.py
@@ -52,9 +52,6 @@ if sys.version_info[0] == 2:
         stdio.seek(0)
         return stdio.read()
 
-    def to_utf8(s):
-        return b(s)
-
     # for details, see http://bugs.python.org/issue9779
     class ArgumentParser(argparse.ArgumentParser):
         def _print_message(self, message, file=None):
@@ -104,9 +101,6 @@ else:
         stdio.seek(0)
         return stdio.read()
 
-    def to_utf8(s):
-        return s
-
     import pickle
 
     ArgumentParser = argparse.ArgumentParser
diff --git a/pubs/version.py b/pubs/version.py
index 1ffac67..6043ce8 100644
--- a/pubs/version.py
+++ b/pubs/version.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = '0.8.dev1'
+__version__ = '0.8.dev2'
diff --git a/tests/test_usecase.py b/tests/test_usecase.py
index a59a773..7d98492 100644
--- a/tests/test_usecase.py
+++ b/tests/test_usecase.py
@@ -123,9 +123,7 @@ class CommandTestCase(fake_env.TestFakeFs):
                         actual_err = color.undye(stderr)
                         if expected_out is not None:
                             self.assertEqual(p3.u_maybe(actual_out), p3.u_maybe(expected_out))
-                            #self.assertEqual(actual_out, expected_out)
                         if expected_err is not None:
-                            self.assertEqual(actual_err, expected_err)
                             self.assertEqual(p3.u_maybe(actual_err), p3.u_maybe(expected_err))
                         outs.append(color.undye(actual_out))
                     else:
@@ -201,11 +199,6 @@ class TestAlone(CommandTestCase):
             self.execute_cmds(['pubs'])
             self.assertEqual(cm.exception.code, 2)
 
-<<<<<<< HEAD
-=======
-
-    @unittest.skipIf(sys.version_info.major == 2, "not supported for Python2")
->>>>>>> implement requested changes for #133
     def test_alone_prints_help(self):
         # capturing the output of `pubs --help` is difficult because argparse
         # raises as SystemExit(0) after calling `print_help`, and this gets