diff --git a/src/allmydata/windows/fixups.py b/src/allmydata/windows/fixups.py
index 3b5437a7b..732a792f5 100644
--- a/src/allmydata/windows/fixups.py
+++ b/src/allmydata/windows/fixups.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from __future__ import print_function
+from past.builtins import unicode
 
 # This code isn't loadable or sensible except on Windows.  Importers all know
 # this and are careful.  Normally I would just let an import error from ctypes