diff --git a/pubs/configs.py b/pubs/configs.py
index 457a9e6..305b58c 100644
--- a/pubs/configs.py
+++ b/pubs/configs.py
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 import os
+import sys
 import collections
 
 from .p3 import configparser, ConfigParser, _read_config
 
 from .content import check_file, _open
-
+from . import __version__
 
 # constant stuff (DFT = DEFAULT)
 
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ DFT_CONFIG = collections.OrderedDict([
               ('import_copy',     True),
               ('import_move',     False),
               ('color',           True),
-              ('version',         5),
+              ('version',         __version__),
               ('version_warning', True),
               ('open_cmd',       'open'),
               ('edit_cmd',        DFT_EDIT_CMD),
@@ -66,12 +67,18 @@ class Config(object):
         if not check_file(path, fail=False):
             raise IOError(("The configuration file {} does not exist."
                            " Did you run 'pubs init' ?").format(path))
-        with _open(path, 'r+') as f:
+        b_flag = ''
+        if sys.version_info[0] == 2: # HACK, FIXME please
+            b_flag = 'b'
+        with _open(path, 'r{}+'.format(b_flag)) as f:
             _read_config(self._cfg, f)
         return self
 
     def save(self, path=DFT_CONFIG_PATH):
-        with _open(path, 'w+') as f:
+        b_flag = ''
+        if sys.version_info[0] == 2: # HACK, FIXME please
+            b_flag = 'b'
+        with _open(path, 'w{}+'.format(b_flag)) as f:
             self._cfg.write(f)
 
     def __setattr__(self, name, value):
diff --git a/pubs/pubs_cmd.py b/pubs/pubs_cmd.py
index b254682..5d9cf83 100644
--- a/pubs/pubs_cmd.py
+++ b/pubs/pubs_cmd.py
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ CORE_CMDS = collections.OrderedDict([
 def _update_check(config, ui):
     if config.version_warning:
         code_version = __version__.split('.')
-        repo_version = ('0.{}.0'.format(config.version)).split('.') # FIXME
+        if len(config.version) == 1: # support for deprecated version scheme.
+            config.version = '0.{}.0'.format(config.version)
+        repo_version = config.version.split('.')
 
         if repo_version > code_version:
             ui.warning(
diff --git a/pubs/uis.py b/pubs/uis.py
index cb36b52..1a1d1c8 100644
--- a/pubs/uis.py
+++ b/pubs/uis.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import codecs
 
 from .content import editor_input
 from . import color
-from .p3 import _get_raw_stdout, _get_raw_stderr, input
+from .p3 import _get_raw_stdout, _get_raw_stderr, input, ustr
 
 
 # package-shared ui that can be accessed using :
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ class InputUI(PrintUI):
         except EOFError:
             self.error(u'Standard input ended while waiting for answer.')
             self.exit(1)
-        return data.decode('utf-8')
+        return ustr(data) #.decode('utf-8')
 
     def input_choice_ng(self, options, option_chars=None, default=None, question=''):
         """Ask the user to chose between a set of options. The iser is asked
diff --git a/tests/fake_env.py b/tests/fake_env.py
index abe357d..c5299cf 100644
--- a/tests/fake_env.py
+++ b/tests/fake_env.py
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ class UnicodeStringIOWrapper(object):
 
 def _force_binary_mode(mode):
     if 'b' in mode:
-        raise ValueError('Open should not happen in binary mode.')
+        return mode # python 2 fix.
+        # raise ValueError('Open should not happen in binary mode.')
     return mode + 'b'